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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I've got the kids reading Chronicles of Narnia. In the Magician's Nephew, there is reference to "The Wood between the Worlds."
Both Theo and Sasha said, "Why is it not 'woods'?"
Rather than respond that it was another typical cross-pondism for which there could never be a rational answer, it occurred to me to ask what those of you in the eastern islands think? Why do you say "wood" rather than "woods"? And when you read Frost's poem, Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, does it jar your ear, so to speak?
TEd
TEd
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I recognise and use both forms. Frost comes to mind, as does TEddy Bear's Picnic! I guess I would say wood to indicate a limited growth, whereas woods suggest a more unbounded spread of forests - perhaps a series of woodland areas bisected by roads or similar. I'll be interested in others' take on this - I sometimes forget how much my lex has been modified by exposure to American language.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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In Winnie the Pooh, Owl's house was called "The Chestnuts" -- "an old-world residence of great charm" -- and was located in the middle of the Hundred Acre Wood a/k/a/ Hundred Akre Wood.
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addict
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I use and recognise both. I think I agree with Mav that there is some sort of relation to scale - if boundary is clearly visible, it's singular, if it stretches away, it's not. More or less, anyway. When I was a kid, there was a small wood on the other side of the railway track called 'Sooty Woods'. I see nothing wrong with that sentence!!!! And Birnham Wood is singular despite being bigger (or so I assume) than my nostalgic little home patch. What do you US'ns make of 'can't see the wood for the trees', then? In Bringlish (can I call it that?), it clearly means 'can't see the overall picture for the detail'. Do you say 'can't see the woods for the trees' or what?!? ...and as for the Australians calling it bush when their trees are higher than the ones I grew up with... 
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enthusiast
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>and as for the Australians calling it bush when their trees are higher than the ones I grew up with..
But that's par for the course with Prisoners of Mother England, surely? After all, Poms call things "mountains" that would barely rate as hills here in NZ, with the UK's highest point being a slight bump about 6 inches above sea level, if I remember correctly. Given that, it's hardly surprising that your sense of scale is out of whack. As an aside, would people please stop posting things that make me defend the schlubs on the wrong side of the Tasman?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>What do you US'ns make of 'can't see the wood for the trees'
I think we mostly say "can't see the forest for the trees"... or is it "can't see the trees for the forest"?
in either case, woods don't (wood doesn't?) enter into the equation (no reference to math/maths intended). : )
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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On Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show on TV) a couple of weeks ago, the clue read something like: _an't see the _ _ _est _ _ _ the trees. The one contestant who had amassed a large pile of winnings on that round said he was ready to solve it. He proceeded to blurt out: "Can't see the forest through the trees"! [/dai gression] (Hi, sweet maverick!)
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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My familiarity with the singular term describing an area covered in growing trees is borne of the Hundred Acre Wood and other British lit. It is always used in the plural around here, no matter how big or small the area is. Well, except if the area is small enough, it isn't called "woods," it's called "those trees over there."
SWEET SIXTEEN
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Poms call things "mountains" that would barely rate as hills here in NZ, with the UK's highest point being a slight bump about 6 inches above sea level, if I remember correctly.
Exactly. One of my colleagues said that he was off on a mountaineering course in Wales the other week and I asked if they'd imported some specially. Not well received but, hey, you have to try, don't you?
As for wood/woods I recognise both but we call forested areas "the bush" in the Zild too, and I don't think I would have ever used either of them when I was there.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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forested areas Are there some, then?
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