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Rifleman
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 1:27 am
Post subject: killed by a fifth or killed by inches? |
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"A block away, four women were killed by a fifth when she drove a
forty-eight-year-old Ford tractor into, and then ~ "
In the above sentence, I don't know where the phrase of 'by a fifth' came
from or what it stands for? Maybe, I guess it's just another expression of
'by inches', so can be just replaced by 'by inches' without distorting the
meaning. Right?
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Alan OBrien
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 1:35 am
Post subject: Re: killed by a fifth or killed by inches? |
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"Rifleman" <tellmewhatever@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:chnm9k$503$1@news1.kornet.net...
| Quote: | "A block away, four women were killed by a fifth when she drove a
forty-eight-year-old Ford tractor into, and then ~ "
In the above sentence, I don't know where the phrase of 'by a fifth' came
from or what it stands for? Maybe, I guess it's just another expression of
'by inches', so can be just replaced by 'by inches' without distorting the
meaning. Right?
|
There were five women, the first one, the second one, the third one and the
fourth one. They were killed by the fifth one.
Alan |
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Rifleman
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 2:10 am
Post subject: Re: killed by a fifth or killed by inches? |
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"Alan OBrien" <alaneobrienSPAM@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:J9J%c.153054$a66.62737@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
| Quote: | "Rifleman" <tellmewhatever@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:chnm9k$503$1@news1.kornet.net...
"A block away, four women were killed by a fifth when she drove a
forty-eight-year-old Ford tractor into, and then ~ "
In the above sentence, I don't know where the phrase of 'by a fifth'
came
from or what it stands for? Maybe, I guess it's just another expression
of
'by inches', so can be just replaced by 'by inches' without distorting
the
meaning. Right?
There were five women, the first one, the second one, the third one and
the
fourth one. They were killed by the fifth one.
Alan
|
Then the writer ought to have used it as a definite article form, not as a
indefinite article form; that is, by 'the fifth', not by 'a fifth', no?
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Alan OBrien
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 2:31 am
Post subject: Re: killed by a fifth or killed by inches? |
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"Rifleman" <tellmewhatever@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:chnor2$8ok$1@news1.kornet.net...
| Quote: |
"Alan OBrien" <alaneobrienSPAM@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:J9J%c.153054$a66.62737@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
"Rifleman" <tellmewhatever@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:chnm9k$503$1@news1.kornet.net...
"A block away, four women were killed by a fifth when she drove a
forty-eight-year-old Ford tractor into, and then ~ "
In the above sentence, I don't know where the phrase of 'by a fifth'
came
from or what it stands for? Maybe, I guess it's just another expression
of
'by inches', so can be just replaced by 'by inches' without distorting
the
meaning. Right?
There were five women, the first one, the second one, the third one and
the
fourth one. They were killed by the fifth one.
Alan
Then the writer ought to have used it as a definite article form, not as a
indefinite article form; that is, by 'the fifth', not by 'a fifth', no?
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He probably should have written, "...Four women were killed by another woman
when she drove..."
Alan |
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raymond o'hara
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 2:44 am
Post subject: Re: killed by a fifth or killed by inches? |
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"Rifleman" <tellmewhatever@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:chnm9k$503$1@news1.kornet.net...
| Quote: | "A block away, four women were killed by a fifth when she drove a
forty-eight-year-old Ford tractor into, and then ~ "
In the above sentence, I don't know where the phrase of 'by a fifth' came
from or what it stands for? Maybe, I guess it's just another expression of
'by inches', so can be just replaced by 'by inches' without distorting the
meaning. Right?
|
Maybe it was a fifth of booze. |
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Peter Duncanson
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 4:22 am
Post subject: Re: killed by a fifth or killed by inches? |
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On Thu, 9 Sep 2004 05:10:48 +0900, "Rifleman" <tellmewhatever@hotmail.com>
wrote:
| Quote: |
"Alan OBrien" <alaneobrienSPAM@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:J9J%c.153054$a66.62737@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
"Rifleman" <tellmewhatever@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:chnm9k$503$1@news1.kornet.net...
"A block away, four women were killed by a fifth when she drove a
forty-eight-year-old Ford tractor into, and then ~ "
In the above sentence, I don't know where the phrase of 'by a fifth'
came
from or what it stands for? Maybe, I guess it's just another expression
of
'by inches', so can be just replaced by 'by inches' without distorting
the
meaning. Right?
There were five women, the first one, the second one, the third one and
the
fourth one. They were killed by the fifth one.
Alan
Then the writer ought to have used it as a definite article form, not as a
indefinite article form; that is, by 'the fifth', not by 'a fifth', no?
It would be 'the fifth' if the five woman were a group. But it would be 'a |
fifth' if the woman driving the tractor had no connection with the other
four women.
--
Peter Duncanson
UK (posting from a.e.u) |
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Michael DeBusk
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 2:25 pm
Post subject: Re: killed by a fifth or killed by inches? |
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On Thu, 9 Sep 2004 04:27:17 +0900, Rifleman
<tellmewhatever@hotmail.com> wrote:
| Quote: | "A block away, four women were killed by a fifth when she drove a
forty-eight-year-old Ford tractor into, and then ~ "
In the above sentence, I don't know where the phrase of 'by a fifth'
came from or what it stands for?
|
It means four women died as the result of the actions of a fifth woman,
though on first reading I thought the four died as a result of drinking
too much whiskey. Or perhaps the four were standing next to a bottle of
whiskey when someone drove over them.
--
Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place
Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet? |
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Michael DeBusk
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 3:04 pm
Post subject: Re: killed by a fifth or killed by inches? |
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On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 08:25:36 GMT, Michael DeBusk
<m_debusk@despammed.com> wrote:
| Quote: | though on first reading I thought the four died as a result of
drinking too much whiskey. Or perhaps the four were standing next to
a bottle of whiskey when someone drove over them.
|
Incidentally, bottles of whiskey are often one-fifth of a gallon in
size here in the US, and one of those is often called "a fifth".
--
Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place
Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet? |
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Cece
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2004 9:56 pm
Post subject: Re: killed by a fifth or killed by inches? |
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Michael DeBusk <m_debusk@despammed.com> wrote in message news:<_0V%c.13364$Wv5.13131@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net>...
| Quote: |
Incidentally, bottles of whiskey are often one-fifth of a gallon in
size here in the US, and one of those is often called "a fifth".
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Not any more. Oh, yeah, it's still called "a fifth," but it's 7 ml short of that.
Cece |
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meirman
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 1:31 am
Post subject: Re: killed by a fifth or killed by inches? |
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In alt.english.usage on 9 Sep 2004 08:56:06 -0700
ceceliaarmstrong@yahoo.com (Cece) posted:
| Quote: | Michael DeBusk <m_debusk@despammed.com> wrote in message news:<_0V%c.13364$Wv5.13131@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net>...
Incidentally, bottles of whiskey are often one-fifth of a gallon in
size here in the US, and one of those is often called "a fifth".
Not any more. Oh, yeah, it's still called "a fifth," but it's 7 ml short of that.
|
Is this metric nonsense, or are they just making things smaller, like
candy bars.
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 20 years |
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Michael DeBusk
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 12:41 pm
Post subject: Re: killed by a fifth or killed by inches? |
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On 9 Sep 2004 08:56:06 -0700, Cece <ceceliaarmstrong@yahoo.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Oh, yeah, it's still called "a fifth," but it's 7 ml short of that.
|
I guess that by the time most people finish the bottle, they are too
drunk to notice.
--
Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place
Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet? |
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Michael DeBusk
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 12:55 pm
Post subject: Re: killed by a fifth or killed by inches? |
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On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 15:31:43 -0400, meirman <meirman@invalid.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Is this metric nonsense, or are they just making things smaller,
like candy bars.
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Many years ago, I worked as a cashier at a convenience store. I recall
one Good Old Boy who never, ever bought a "two-liter". He'd come up and
ask for a "half-gallon of Coke". One day, just for fun, I told him we
were out of the half-gallon bottles and would sell him a two-liter at
the same price. He laughed, but he would *not* back down. Gimme a
half-gallona Coke. Heh. Maybe I should have offered to pour out about
four ounces for him first.
--
Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place
Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet? |
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Odysseus
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 12:57 pm
Post subject: Re: killed by a fifth or killed by inches? |
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Cece wrote:
| Quote: |
Michael DeBusk <m_debusk@despammed.com> wrote in message news:<_0V%c.13364$Wv5.13131@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net>...
Incidentally, bottles of whiskey are often one-fifth of a gallon in
size here in the US, and one of those is often called "a fifth".
Not any more. Oh, yeah, it's still called "a fifth," but it's 7 ml short of that.
|
Your gallons are eight ounces short to start with, so what's another
35 ml?
Our 750-ml bottle is colloquially called "a twenty-six(ounc)er",
sometimes "a two six"; "a fifth" isn't often heard here.
--
Odysseus |
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