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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 3
stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 3 |
Around here (mountains of NC) people refer to "license" as plural as in: (question) Do you have your driver's license? (ans) Let me find them.
I think I have also heard that sort of wording for "scissors" although at least scissors is a pair and not one thing.
What do you call that word usage?
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,529
veteran
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veteran
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,529 |
"What do you call that word usage?" ___________________________________
In Alabama we call it correct.
Pronounced li-senz the ear hears that it is plural by contstruction and so we obey the rule of plural usage. We obey all laws here in Alabama so we have a lot of licenseses.
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 72
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 72 |
li·cence (lī'səns )
Looks correct to me. As a damned yankee/foreigner/surfing bum, I must acquiesce the universal nature of the pronunciation.
I exist! I am a pedant! I have a foreboding signature!
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
> Let me find them
I think this was the point. how many drivers licenses does one need?
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
depends how many cars you drive at one time.
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 956
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 956 |
I'd understand License being plural if the singular was licen. According to the OED it stems from latin Licentia freedom, liberty.....world peace, hahaha. It is also one of the funnily spelt words Licence, or License for the verb.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
its like peas.. it used to be pease, (singular) but sounded like a plural, so now we have pea, and peas
sounds plural, so it gets treated as plural.
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 13
stranger
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stranger
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 13 |
Yous all have good answers.
-- And I never accepted "yous"/"youse" as good English till I made some good friends from Pennsylvania. They all use this as the plural form for "you". It gave me hope that English could be saved and converted into a rational language. But the phonology is still hopeless. --
So youse all should have license!
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