Re: Question: Different English names for "picnic cloth"

Eugene Oh wrote:
> On Thu, Nov 27, 2008 at 12:02 PM, R A Brown <ray@...>wrote:
>
>> I was born and brought up in Sussex (UK) and have always known 'cloth' to
>> be usable as both a mass and a count noun. I find nothing strange in "a
>> cloth" nor in the plural "cloths."
>>
>>
>
> That was in Singapore.
Maybe your usage is a feature of Singaporean English.

> It is possible to use "a cloth" or "cloths" too, just
> that they are slightly more specific in the same way that "water" and
> "waters" have different meanings. "A cloth" or "this cloth" would refer to a
> specific type of cloth/material or an instantiation thereof.
"A cloth" nay be used that way here also. But I've grown up hearing and
using "a cloth" also to mean "a piece of cloth appropriate to the
context', i.e. it could refer to a 'tea-towel'/'wiping-up cloth', a
dish-cloth, a table-cloth etc., depending on context. If the meaning is
not clear I's use the full term, i.e. 'dish-cloth', 'table-cloth'.

To me 'a piece of cloth' suggests something torn or cut from a larger
piece and waiting to be put to some use.

--
Ray
==================================
http://www.carolandray.plus.com
==================================
Frustra fit per plura quod potest
fieri per pauciora.
[William of Ockham]

Reply