Needles & Grooves

LeSamourai
LeSamourai
As someone with some linguistics background, I'm more interested in how "vinyls" fits the same pattern of "countification," a process by which English mass nouns become countable in real-life usage (for example, nobody gets upset if you order "two beers" even though beer used to be just a mass (or uncountable) noun).
duke86fan
duke86fan
Hmm. That is an interesting read though I also wonder if part of the specific disdain is because of how the phrase sounds on the ears.. similar to how many hate the phrase moist
Sparkle Baby Diaper Lava
Sparkle Baby Diaper Lava
"Moist" I'm okay with. But don't get me started on "moists"! Really chaps my fanny!
MadLucas
MadLucas
I find I have to clarify.
"Do you have any of ____ records?"
[they point to CD's.]
"No, I was hoping for vinyls."

"Records" has become synonymous over the years with "sound recording available in a non-vinyl format," so unfortunately I find that there is a distinction that need to be made.
djdavedk
djdavedk
Whomever thought that records referred to CDs is brain-dead. Maybe "albums" because they fit the basic description of what that means (a collection of songs), but nobody called cassettes or 8-track tapes "albums," either.
djdavedk
djdavedk
Pluralizing a material that something is made from is weird at best. Do you go to the lumber store, point to a pile of boards and say, "I'd like those woods?" Or the screw section and say "I need some of those metals." Pick an item created from material and apply it. Shower curtains? Rugs? Mirrors?
LeSamourai
LeSamourai
Except, do you get annoyed if someone says "you left some papers on the table"? Or "I think I need new glasses"?
djdavedk
djdavedk
Glasses are short for eyeglasses, and we used to call them spectacles. They can also be made from plastic.
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