| Expression: Under the sea | (the) most famous |
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 #1 (permalink) Tue Jan 06, 2009 22:07 pm (s) Behind A Word - What Does This Mean? |
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Suppose a sign at the football stadium reads: "Free Admission Saturday for Boys Accompanied by an Adult! Bring your boy(s) to the game on Saturday for free admission!"
What does that mean? Does it mean that, whether you only have one boy or five, it doesn't matter - all boys get free admission if accompanied by an adult? Or does it mean that if you only have one child, that child will be admitted for free but if you have multiple boys, they will have to pay?
I think it is fairly obvious that it means the former - it doesn't matter how many boys you bring, they get in free.
My problem is, I am a public defender in front of a judge who doesn't want to understand common, English usage. He is more concerned with putting people in custody prior to trial. Here is the issue:
The bail schedule says: "Current felony offense and prior prison term for any felony offense(s) within the last five years - add $10,000.00 to presumptive bail amount."
It is fairly obvious to me that this means, if the defendant has one (or twenty) prior prison terms, ten grand gets added to the presumptive bail amount. It does NOT mean 10K PER prison term.
My judge thinks it does. Don't even ask me to try to repeat the convoluted justification he spews out in support of his viewpoint on this matter.
I need a specific reference I can show him to convince him that when (s) appears behind a word, it means EITHER/OR.
Can anyone direct me to such a reference? I have tried to find it and am not having any luck.
Thanks in advance. |
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Pdmike
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Joined: 06 Jan 2009
Posts: 3
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| #2 (permalink) Wed Jan 07, 2009 0:18 am (s) Behind A Word - What Does This Mean? |
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Your interpretation is not necessarily correct. I may have misunderstood, but consider the following:
price of admission: $20 per ticket
I would like to purchase ______ ticket(s)
Amount enclosed: _____
It seems to me that by your reasoning I could enter any number of tickets I wanted and still pay just $20. Again, if I misunderstood your question, I apologize. |
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Nyc
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Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Posts: 6
Location: Nyc
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| #3 (permalink) Wed Jan 07, 2009 4:40 am (s) Behind A Word - What Does This Mean? |
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| Nyc wrote: |
Your interpretation is not necessarily correct. I may have misunderstood, but consider the following:
price of admission: $20 per ticket
I would like to purchase ______ ticket(s)
Amount enclosed: _____
It seems to me that by your reasoning I could enter any number of tickets I wanted and still pay just $20. Again, if I misunderstood your question, I apologize. |
Thanks for the response.
In your example, it is indicated that the price is $20 per ticket. If that is a given, then one would have to multiply the number of tickets purchased by $20, so no - you could not enter any number of tickets and still pay just $20.
In fact, the example you give here seems to be an even better illustration of what I am trying to say than my original example. Your example leaves open the number of tickets to be purchased - that is left to be filled in by the purchaser. It would be improper to say: "I would like to purchase _____ ticket," because that only allows for the purchase of one ticket. It would also be improper to say: "I would like to purchase
_____ tickets," because that would exclude the single ticket purchaser.
So, to allow for BOTH options, it properly says: "I would like to purchase _____
ticket(s)," i.e., the addition of "(s)" to the end of the word "ticket" means that it is an either/or situation: either the singular or the plural will be acceptable, depending upon what the purchaser wants.
So, it appears that the addition of "(s)" to the end of a word DOES mean that either the singular or the plural is allowed when "filling in the blanks" realtive to the operative word.
What I need is something that SAYS that - some link or reference to a grammatical authority I can use to show my judge that what I am saying has a suspportable basis in accepted, grammatical usage. |
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Pdmike
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Joined: 06 Jan 2009
Posts: 3
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| #4 (permalink) Wed Jan 07, 2009 4:58 am “lean and chiseled” |
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President Elect Barack Obama has been caught shirtless in Hawaii, causing quite a stir for all the right reasons.
The shot shows Obama with abs, or as one outlet called Obama’s body: “lean and chiseled.”
Obama works out regularly, and it was noted during the campaign that he kept his routine of morning workouts happening on the road. Reports say that this routine hasn’t changed in Hawaii, with Obama working out at the Semper Fit Center on Marine Corps Base at Hawaii’s Kaneohe Bay.
bauergriffinonline.com
... and just a good man  |
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AnryMorano
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Joined: 30 Dec 2008
Posts: 4
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| #5 (permalink) Wed Jan 07, 2009 5:04 am “lean and chiseled” |
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President Elect Barack Obama has been caught shirtless in Hawaii, causing quite a stir for all the right reasons.
The shot shows Obama with abs, or as one outlet called Obama’s body: “lean and chiseled.”
Obama works out regularly, and it was noted during the campaign that he kept his routine of morning workouts happening on the road. Reports say that this routine hasn’t changed in Hawaii, with Obama working out at the Semper Fit Center on Marine Corps Base at Hawaii’s Kaneohe Bay.
bauergriffinonline.com
... and just a good man |
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AnryMorano
New Member
Joined: 30 Dec 2008
Posts: 4
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| #6 (permalink) Wed Jan 07, 2009 5:14 am “lean and chiseled” |
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| You're kidding, right? |
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Nyc
New Member
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Posts: 6
Location: Nyc
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| #7 (permalink) Wed Jan 07, 2009 16:49 pm “lean and chiseled” |
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| Nyc wrote: |
| You're kidding, right? |
This is either a mistake or something intentional. If the latter, the person posting it should be reported to an admin here. |
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Pdmike
New Member
Joined: 06 Jan 2009
Posts: 3
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| Expression: Under the sea | (the) most famous |
