Pedants' Paradise

[jean]

But we mostly use that form when we talk about a three-foot something or other, and then it's a special use of the singular, isn't it?

As in a twelve-inch rule, a two-mile journey.

I think I say He is six feet tall, but I concede I could use foot there as well.

What nobody ever says is He weighs fourteen stones.

[amateur51]

But we mostly use that form when we talk about a three-foot something or other, and then it's a special use of the singular, isn't it?

As in a twelve-inch rule, a two-mile journey.

I think I say He is six feet tall, but I concede I could use foot there as well.

What nobody ever says is He weighs fourteen stones.

I thought everyone used BMI these days

[JFLL]

What nobody ever says is He weighs fourteen stones.

But oddly enough, 'The baby weighs seven pounds'.

German has a similar non-intuitive use of the singular: 'Zwei Glas Bier, bitte' (not 'Zwei Gläser ...')

[Sir Velo]

But oddly enough, 'The baby weighs seven pounds'.

Unless said by a cockney...

[Pabmusic]

But we mostly use that form when we talk about a three-foot something or other, and then it's a special use of the singular, isn't it?

As in a twelve-inch rule, a two-mile journey.

I think I say He is six feet tall, but I concede I could use foot there as well.

What nobody ever says is He weighs fourteen stones.

Yes, these are all idiomatic uses, with little logic other than that they often began as adjectival phrases (a six-foot-tall man = a six-foot man = the man is six-foot = the man is six foot).

[Roehre]

But oddly enough, 'The baby weighs seven pounds'.

German has a similar non-intuitive use of the singular: 'Zwei Glas Bier, bitte' (not 'Zwei Gläser ...')

A German would simply say Zwei Bier, bitte, or, if a specific size is ordered: zwei Halbe bitte (two half liters please)

[gurnemanz]

A German would simply say Zwei Bier, bitte, or, if a specific size is ordered: zwei Halbe bitte (two half liters please)

They sometimes refer to "zwei Mann" rather than the usual plural "zwei Männer". It seems be for a quantity as opposed to a number. "Glas" can also mean "jar", then it has the plural form "Gläser" as in Zwei Gläser Erdbeermaralade, bitte, which is I think normal usage.

Incidentally, I remember reading somewhere that during the Third Reich, people reluctant to allow the officially prescribed greeting "Heil Hitler" to pass their lips, yet keen not to be seen saying nothing, would say "Drei Liter" instead.

[JFLL]

A German would simply say Zwei Bier, bitte, ...

Yes, but isn't that a matter of register, not grammar, like 'two beers' vs. 'two glasses of beer' in English?

[Roehre]

Yes, but isn't that a matter of register, not grammar, like 'two beers' vs. 'two glasses of beer' in English?

Might be, as the plural of Bier (as kind/make of drink) is Biere (e.g. 1664 and Carlsberg are two different Biere), but with ordering beer the plural of Bier, like its diminutive Bierchen (little [glas of] Beer) is Bier and Bierchen respectively, though there are regional differences. I heard Biere in the Rhineland (Aachen, Cologne), but Bier in Bayern(Munich, Passau) and Baden-Württemberg (Baden-Baden, Tübingen and Friedrichshafen)
I'd like to know Gurnemanz' opinion about this.

[gurnemanz]

An impressive range of beer-ordering locations, Roehre. For me zwei Biere is two types of beer, as you say, and you would normally say "Zwei Bier".

Such is my need to get a life that I googled "Zwei Bratwurst" (for me this would be normal usage in sausage-ordering (which I do quite often when in Germany), as opposed to the plural "zwei Bratwürste"). It came up with a fairly detailed discussion. I notice that someone refers to a linguistic phenomenon called "Imbissbudendeutsch" (snack stall German).

[Roehre]

Nice discussion it is, Gurnemanz. And I would say Zwei Bratwurst myself as well
Talking about regional differences: standard German in Switzerland (let alone Schwytzertüütsch or the local Swiss dialects) uses quite a lot of other words/expressions which they hardly if ever use north of Basel: Pneu, not Reife; Ade, not wiedersehen, wiederschauen or Tschüss; Merci vielmals, not Danke schön; Grüsse(ch miteinand'), not Hallo, to mention a couple of the most obvious ones.

[JFLL]

Grüsse(ch miteinand'), not Hallo, to mention a couple of the most obvious ones.

Usually Grüetzi miteinand (presumably Schwyzertüü̈tsch?) in my experience -- a lovely welcome, so elegant after the rather abrupt-sounding Grüß Gott!

Another oddity in German is that although you’d say Zwei Glas Wein (singular Glas) you’d use the plural Zwei Flaschen Wein or Zwei Tassen Kaffee. Feminine nouns in this context seem to take the regular plural ending.

[amateur51]

This is developing into a fascinating thread and I particularly like Imbissbudendeutsch

I'm sure that English provides just as great a variety of ways of saying 'Hello!' too

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

A few years ago, when I was writing school reports, I wrote in the space where it said "name of teacher": Mr. Alpensinfonie. The reports were returned to me, requiring me to remove the full stop after "Mr" on every one of the reports. I think I changed the top few reports before deciding not be such a fool. But it begs the question of when doing the right thing became wrong. And when the wrong thing became right.
Standard practice seems to be to omit the full stop from an abbreviation when the last letter has been retained. Therefore, in orchestral scores, you will see Fl., Ob., etc. with full stops, but Vln, Vla, etc. without.

However, I would never write 9.00 pm, or 6.15 am; the latter in particular looks like a real word. It's pure laziness to omit punctuation, even though the effort required to write 6.15 a.m. is minimal.

[vinteuil]

However, I would never write 9.00 pm, or 6.15 am; the latter in particular looks like a real word. It's pure laziness to omit punctuation, even though the effort required to write 6.15 a.m. is minimal.

It is not 'laziness' to choose 9:00 PM or 6:15 AM rather than 9:00 a. m. or 6:15 p. m. - it can be a matter of deliberate choice, or of house style.

I always write JS Bach, CPE Bach, GF Handel, etc rather than J. S. Bach, C. P. E. Bach, G. F. Handel - and it is not 'laziness' that determines my choice.