How Many or How Old?

[Thadeus]

I am a GameCube/GameBoy owning father of 36 with all my children and wife all games players.

- from Mark Coyle, Nottingham, UK

So is this another UK thing? Is he the father of 36 or a 36 year old father?

~Thadeus

 

[tsdragon]

That's not a UK thing, they use that construction in the US too. It's shorthand for "of 36 years". It's a better example of "lazy-speak" than "UK-speak".


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[KenCunningham]

I wouldn't say it's 'lazy-speak', just 'accepted usage'.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Thadeus If asked how old you are, (& assuming you were 36 years old) would you reply 36 years or just 36?
It may be grammatically incorrect, but, as Ken states it is accepted practice. After all, what else could it be ... months, decades, centuries???

& all the best.

 

[Dimandja]

I almost assumed he was married, with 36 children.

It's a poor sentence construction. I suggest: "I am a 36 years old GameCube/GameBoy owning father, with my children and wife all games players.

 

[Thadeus]

CorBlimey, It's not about how you state your age, it's an extremely poor sentence structure as Dimandja points out.

When I read it, I had visions of Monty Python's Meaning of Life, where the Catholic family has more children than my local school.

~Thadeus

 

[SantaMufasa]

This is very similar to our local standard: "Why do Utahns stop having children at 35?

Because 36 is just too many.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.

 

[SilentAiche]

:
Because 36 is just too many.

Too Funny!!!

[green]er, once again I face those stupid non-working smiling thingies - I really wanted the one with the clashing steins...[/green]

Tim



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[Dimandja]

That's funny, SantaMufasa! I have a Utahn (Mormon) friend, and when anyone asks me how many children they have, I count the years since they tied the knot. (My friend knows I do this, and does not take offense -- he understands my questionable sense of humor.)

 

[SantaMufasa]

Been there...Done that...We had six children in six years. They are all adults now, having their own kids.

If you have Utah/Mormon friends, then you'd enjoy the question: "How can you tell the mother of the bride at a Utahn/Mormon wedding?"

She's the one that's pregnant.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.

 

[Dimandja]

She's the one nursing?

 

[SilentAiche]

Dave,

If it's allowed, I have a rather simple religion-related question (this coming from a Protestant Presbyterian sort):

From my Catholic friends, I know their Church doctrine preaches against the use of artificial birth control. Is there a similar admonition in Mormon doctrine?

Tim

[aside] Once, as a college freshman, I was eating alone in the "Snack Pit" ( a cardboard pizza, as I recall). Another student was struck by the fact that I would bow in Grace before my meal and he introduced himself. He was a Morman, and we spoke for a bit. I explained my religious heritage and basically the encounter ended there. But all these years later, I still remember. [/aside]



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[Dimandja]

I like your answer better, SM. Outrageous!!!

 

[SantaMufasa]

The guidance from the Church leaders is to welcome the children you can care for properly; don't have more children than you can properly care for. Absent abortion or "destructive" techniques, the method is a decision for the parents to make. (Good question.)

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.

 

[CajunCenturion]

Yes, it is a good question, but not well-suited for this forum. However, it might make for a reasonable discussion in Squaring The Circle (forum1229)


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[SilentAiche]

CC,

Sorry, I didn't mean to sidetrack the forum (although, in past vain attempts to be funny, I guess I've done it a number of times).

In this case, it really was a case of spontaneous curiousity. I genuinely appreciate Dave's reply.

Tim

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