Need some English Help

[Schwartz]

The plural of "Cracker Jack" is "Cracker Jack" if you didn't already know.

 

[W3H5]

Really? I would have though Cracker Jacks would have sounded better.

"Can I have the Cracker Jack, Jack?"......"OK."....."No, I meant the whole bowl of Cracker Jack, Jack."

Doesn't do it for me.

 

[Schwartz]

First, let's acknowledge that the plural of "Cracker Jack" is probably "Cracker Jack" That's typical with brand names.

But people actually seem to use a pluralized form of the name - so often, at least, that I only realized the brand name was "Cracker Jack" and not "Cracker Jacks" when fact-checking this post.

So for the sake of argument, let's assume the word needs a plural.

"Crackers Jack" is similar in construction to "Attorneys General," so that seems like a good place to start. Once we understand the construction of "Attorneys General" we can see if the same logic apples to "Crackers Jack."

"Attorney General" is a compound noun, and "General" acts as an adjective modifying "Attorney." (What kind of attorney? the general one.) Since you pluralize nouns, not adjectives, the plural form is "Attorneys General."

Here’s another example: "Able seaman." This is also a compound noun. "Able" is an adjective modifying "seaman." Thus the plural form is "Able seamen," not "Ables seaman."

The rule then seems to be that you capitalize the head, not just the first word.

Based on this, you could argue that "Cracker" is being used as an adjective (what kind of Jack? A cracker one, which has a … different connotation nowadays) and thus "Cracker Jacks" — precisely they way everyone says it anyway.

Strictly speaking, I think the real answer to this is that the plural of "Cracker Jack" is the same as the singular, and any other plural form is never grammatically correct. But now, at least, maybe "Attorneys General" doesn't seem so strange.

.

 

[Nessy]

.

My tiny brain can't even begin to understand what's being explained.
Very confused indeed.

 

[Famine]

It's simply - ugly coding insertion aside - explaining that the plural of some US brand name is the same as the singular, by way of odd plurals like "Grands Prix", brothers-in-law and courts martial.

 

[Schwartz]

My tiny brain can't even begin to understand what's being explained.
Very confused indeed.

Read slower and don't move on until each paragraph makes sense.

ugly coding insertion aside.

Wow Famine, you're not liking me today are you?

 

[Nessy]

Ohh.. i see, i knew that the word/'s: "Grands Prix" was pronounced with out the "s" and the "x", but i had no idea words/sayings (whatever's the correct term) like: "brother-in-law" and "court martial", had the "s" when written.

[EDIT]

Schwartz, i do try and do that, at times i'll read something like what seems to be a hundred times over, sometimes it goes in.. sometimes it doesn't, i tend to misunderstand written stuff quite a lot.

Tiny brain, is tiny brain, i guess i should try harder really.

 

[Famine]

Wow Famine, you're not liking me today are you?

I'll assume that you can't see the mess of coding then?

First, let’s acknowledge that the plural of “Cracker Jack” is probably “Cracker Jack.” That’s typical with brand names.

It carries on in that style. I guess it's a browser issue.

 

[mattythedog]

It looks pretty normal for me Famine, must be your browser.

 

[Schwartz]

It looked normal from the app, but then I clicked on browser mode...

 

[mattythedog]

Oh yeah, I see now.

 

[Nessy]

Must be my browser too then, i'm seeing exactly what Famine is seeing, with all that weird coding.

[EDIT]

Schwartz, i see that you've now edited it, but i can still see lots of weird coding, though now i can see the word "Cracker Jack".

Thanks for trying to edit it.

Looks pretty normal know (apart from a few words), and yeah, it makes sense.

 

[buickgnx88]

You know, I think the reason people say "Legos" (as I do) is as a shortened form of "Lego bricks", just as with Cracker Jack pieces, or Cracker Jacks.

Edit:
Which ones amuse and which ones annoy?

Ones that amuse or annoy me.

Brake Rotor - Brake Disc Both are used in the US, Rotor makes sense along with Disc since it is a "rotary disc"
Counter Clockwise - Anti Clockwise Both make sense since counter and anti are practically similes, Counter just fits better with the alliteration IMO
Movie - Film Generally we use movies for the things that have a plot and starring actors, film for artsy pictures and documentaries/school productions
Stroller - Pram Stroller makes more sense in this case (a "vehicle" for a baby to stroll in haha)
Cotton Candy - Candyfloss Both make sense, just depends on whether you're looking at the entire unit or each individual strand
Casket - Coffin Again, both are used in the US. Casket is just the more formal name.
Zip Code - Post Code ZIP code is used the most, but some places will call it the postal code.

 

[sumbrownkid]

Cell phone - mobile phone

Color - colour

As an 'Murican, with regards to Lego...They can go screw themselves.

Legos all day baby.

 

[Nessy]

Edit:
Which ones amuse and which ones annoy?

I'm going to agree with dhandes on the "rotor" one, a disc is rotund in shape, but a disc shape doesn't always rotate, it can be static.

[EDIT], actually, i see what you mean, you did say "rotary disc". still sounds strange to me though.

Also, silly me.. rotund and rotate are obviously 2 completely different things, and has no bearing on the subject

 

[W3H5]

Text double plus not good much unsense must forward go in Newspeak.

 

[Nessy]

Text double plus not good much unsense must forward go in Newspeak.

That actually makes more sense to me, than when i try to read my own writing.