Aggravation du semaine

[jasonscheirer]

I hate it when people say "for years" when the number of years is only two (or even, sometimes, one and a half) -- I don't think a plural of such is necessary until something has met or exceeded at least three or four, and more depending on the context. While the dialogue

Comments

i am not the tross' comment

[punch_drunklove]

they're probably too lazy to say a couple of days, or in fact want to give the impression it is more than 2 when it is not. 3 would count as days. i would only expect a near-inumerably large amount if they said many years. to go from 2 to innumerable is a bit much.

from: tross

Re: i am not the tross' comment

[jasonscheirer]

Yeah, I hate misleading language like that, it drives me nuts.

"Fun" fact: in Ye Olden Days of the Indo-European language family, there was a 1-2-many system (singular, dual and plural). In all the modern languages I know it's simplified to singular-plural, but there are still remnants of it here and there. For instance, "oxen," the plural for ox, was originally a dual form (two ox), the plural was oxes. Hooray language change!

[soup_lada]

People just like to exaggerate. =)

[jasonscheirer]

I wish they wouldn't. Or at least if they did be less misleading about it.