Re: USAGE : English past tense and participle in -et

--- Tim May <butsuri@...>
wrote:
> It occurs to me that in at least some dialects
> there is at least one
> word which may fall between "a" and "lot of".
> While the phrase "a
> whole lot of" may not be standard English,
> exactly, it is well known
> and generally understood.  I would be
> interested to hear how this is
> accounted for by those who consider "alot" to
> be a single word.
Personally, I'd say "a whole bunch".

> Incidentally, I can use "lot" as a noun
> denoting a quantity or number.
> If I was, say, processing documents or peeling
> potatoes or what have
> you, I might say something like "After I finish
> these, I have that lot
> over there to do, and then I'm finished".
Yes, that's an allotment or group; an indefinite
quantity. Same kind of thing an auctioneer sells.

> (This doesn't carry any
> connotation of auctions or divisions of land.)
Actually, it does, as the auctioneers lot is
simply a quantity of stuff for sale. A lot is
some undefined quantity of land.

Padraic.


=====
la cieurgeourea provoer mal trasfu ast meiyoer ke 'l andrext ben trasfu.


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