Re: those irregular prepositions

Gary Shannon wrote:
[snip]
>
> Ah, those Brits are an odd bunch, eh? It's obvious to
> any mathemetician that "half ten" is five. I suppose
> their cake recipes call for "a half and a cup of
> flour".
Nah! We don't measure flour in cups (they ain't all the same size!) -
Brit recipes have traditionally measured flour in pounds and ounces; in
more recent years books also include weight in kilos (for big cakes!)
and grammes.

I know it's very quaint actually weighing flour, but there it is  :)

Nor do we say *"a half and a pound of flour" - 'tis "a pound and a half
of..." or "one and a half pounds of..."

In the good ol' days of predecimalized money, 1.5 denarii were "a penny
ha'penny" or "three ha'pence"       ;)

--
Ray
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ray@carolandray.plus.com
http://www.carolandray.plus.com
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"A mind which thinks at its own expense will always
interfere with language."         J.G. Hamann, 1760

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