Re: OT: the euro & 01.01.02 (was NATLANG/FONT:)
| From: | Padraic Brown <agricola@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Saturday, December 22, 2001, 16:05 |
|---|
Am 20.12.01, Anton Sherwood yscrifef:
> bjm10@CORNELL.EDU wrote:
> > Exactly my point. Even though the value of the nickel is five cents,
> > it is never called anything but a nickel.
>
> Not true. We usually say "here's a nickel" but we may also say "here's
> five cents"; the latter suggests the sort of person who hypercorrects.
But this is just the point. The first guy is naming the object -
a nickel piece - while the second guy is telling you how much
money is there - 5c. If I gave you five pennies, I'd say "here's
five cents" as well. Of course, I could also say "here are five
pennies".
> *My* point, in case it was unclear (who me? usually!), was that we never
> say "five pennies" unless we mean five distinct pieces of copper^Wzinc.
Yes. This is also what everyone else is saying!
Padraic.
--
Bethes gwaz vaz ha leal.