Any English Scholars?

[Magnus Oyke]

If there's any English scholars in d'house, let me ask a question.

Why do we grow wheat, barley, grass etc and refer to them in the singular, but oats, potatoes, onions etc we refer to them in the plural?

Then, and I know they're a funny lot, we refer to sugar beet as singular, but the murcans say beets in the plural.

 

[dave78+]

If there's any English scholars in d'house, let me ask a question.

Why do we grow wheat, barley, grass etc and refer to them in the singular, but oats, potatoes, onions etc we refer to them in the plural?

Then, and I know they're a funny lot, we refer to sugar beet as singular, but the murcans say beets in the plural.

The funny lot are all on here!

 

[Still Farming]

Like the French is it with some things masculine and other feminine???

 

[Bury the Trash]

If there's any English scholars in d'house, let me ask a question.

Why do we grow wheat, barley, grass etc and refer to them in the singular, but oats, potatoes, onions etc we refer to them in the plural?

Then, and I know they're a funny lot, we refer to sugar beet as singular, but the murcans say beets in the plural.

Interesting one. Don't know but ...
wheat and Barley grains are in an ear en masse whereas Oats onions pots' etc are individual/singular i guess

 

[Magnus Oyke]

The funny lot are all on here!

I know, and would never bait them, honest.

 

[An Gof]

It’s all here

https://www.little-lever.bolton.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Plurals.pdf

 

[Spencer]

Reminds me of a tale of a primary English teacher.. Now children todays English language assignment is to use Dandelion in a sentence.
Lucy “ Today we went into the garden and saw a Dandelion.

Duncan “ Dad sprayed the silage ground for Dockings and Dandelion”

Trevor “ I like to drink Dandelion and Burdock”

Tyreese “Da cheeta is faster Dandelion”!

 

[Exfarmer]

What did the Romans do for us?
give us complicated questions like this

 

[kfpben]

If there's any English scholars in d'house, let me ask a question.

Why do we grow wheat, barley, grass etc and refer to them in the singular, but oats, potatoes, onions etc we refer to them in the plural?

Then, and I know they're a funny lot, we refer to sugar beet as singular, but the murcans say beets in the plural.

I would hazard a guess is that it’s singular when you can’t reasonably count something, plural when you can.

This is also the distinction between ‘less’ and ‘fewer’.

Clearly sheep are uncountable

 

[010101]

Lots of the spelling used in England is non-phonetic. This can only come from literature.
Through Bacon, Shakespeare, Dryden, Locke, Swift, Spenser, Milton, Sydney and other great writers, we have been and gone an Empire with a Monarch's dictum.

The culture and political history of a nation continuously helps shape it's language.

DunnIt? Geez.

Does it not, Sir?

 

[glasshouse]

If there's any English scholars in d'house, let me ask a question.

Why do we grow wheat, barley, grass etc and refer to them in the singular, but oats, potatoes, onions etc we refer to them in the plural?

Then, and I know they're a funny lot, we refer to sugar beet as singular, but the murcans say beets in the plural.

Some farmers refer to Wheats , rapes snd barleys
Very annoying.

 

[alomy75]

I would hazard a guess is that it’s singular when you can’t reasonably count something, plural when you can.

This is also the distinction between ‘less’ and ‘fewer’.

Clearly sheep are uncountable

Ants/bees/wasps?!

 

[alomy75]

Some farmers refer to Wheats , rapes snd barleys
Very annoying.

Agreed. Also when people (including some farmers) refer to harvesting the ‘corn’ when actually they mean wheat or barley. Corn is maize or possibly sweetcorn. Nothing else.

 

[010101]

Agreed. Also when people (including some farmers) refer to harvesting the ‘corn’ when actually they mean wheat or barley. Corn is maize or possibly sweetcorn. Nothing else.

Corn is an Old English word meaning grain, seed, fruit of a cereal.
It is interesting how you appear to view your language as absolute.

 

[Netherfield]

Corn is an Old English word meaning grain, seed, fruit of a cereal.
It is interesting how you appear to view your language as absolute.

corn
​

kôrn​

noun​

1. Any of numerous cultivated forms of a widely grown, usually tall annual cereal grass (Zea mays) bearing grains or kernels on large ears.
2. The grains or kernels of this plant, used as food for humans and livestock or for the extraction of an edible oil or starch.
3. An ear of this plant.

From The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

 

[010101]

It is almost impossible to type in this dialogue box, without the spell correction telling me it knows best.
Please can I express myself without a fffffkg algo intervening wrongly?

 

[An Gof]

Agreed. Also when people (including some farmers) refer to harvesting the ‘corn’ when actually they mean wheat or barley. Corn is maize or possibly sweetcorn. Nothing else.

Wait until you try and define what a bullock is

 

[alomy75]

Corn is an Old English word meaning grain, seed, fruit of a cereal.
It is interesting how you appear to view your language as absolute.

As @Netherfield says; it’s an Americanism. As for your second point; you sound just like my wife . It is kind of true…but don’t we all?

 

[010101]

As @Netherfield says; it’s an Americanism. As for your second point; you sound just like my wife . It is kind of true…but don’t we all?

Good thinking!
Your language is your sovereignty. I like the way you are willing to defend it.

 

[alomy75]

Good thinking!
Your language is your sovereignty. I like the way you are willing to defend it.

Of course. I’ll argue with anyone that ‘tea’ is eaten at 5ish and ‘dinner’ is at 12ish also . My pet hate however concerns the spoken English language. Notably people on the radio who don’t pronounce the letter t. Makes my skin crawl.