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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 2,788 |
If you go down to the woods today
You're sure of a big surprise
If you go down to the woods today
You'd better go in disguise
For ev'ry bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today's the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic.
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
In reply to:
If you go down to the woods today
You're sure of a big surprise
If you go down to the woods today
You'd better go in disguise
As Hercule Poirot would say, exactement! Try singing that delightful ditty with an indefinite article instead of the definite, and see how well it flows. 
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Um, it seems to me (without any reference materials or anyfink loike thaat), that "the woods" implies more than one wood, i.e. a series of copses or small forests - or perhaps open forest land (lots of clearings). Therefore "a woods" would be an epistemological nonsense.
But it's just an opinion. It just sounds wrong!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
I was hoping for a more than just an appetizer, he replied tastelessly.
You may have just desserts, she said sweetly.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
One of our cricket fans says: a woods...It just sounds wrong!
Now you know how we baseball fans feel when we hear an innings
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 3,146 |
Now you know how we baseball fans feel when we hear an innings... and talking about epistemological nonsense ....
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>I believe the British version is "out of the wood"?
You could be right, although I have only ever heard "out of the woods".
Regarding the rest of this thread, I have never heard anyone say "a woods" only "the woods" although now I think about it, people do talk about "a wood" sometimes. I wouldn't be surprised by the following usage "how about visiting a local wood to look at the flora and fauna?" I supppose it is a matter of context to avoid confusion with wood as in woodwork.
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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
Out of the woods and out of the wood sound just about equally familiar to me.
On the more general point, I think "the woods" is much more common simply because we're more likely to be referring to a particular known area of woodland. If I was speaking more generally I think I would say "a wood" or "a piece of woodland", but "a woods" doesn't raise my hackles in any way.
Bingley
Bingley
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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Posts: 393 |
That's the first time I've encountered "a woods" too. We already hae "a links" and "an innings", but in these cases the original singular is not used. With woods we can refer indifferently to the same place as either a wood or woods, so with "the" or proper names such as Highgate Wood(s), they seem to be synonyms syntactically as well as semantically.
"Wood" is related to "divide" and "widow", its original meaning being a separating stand of trees
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