"You go back a long ways?"
Why not a long way or long ways?
Why not a long way or long ways?
a long ways
I would say, "We go back a long way".
It is not plural.
The expression means, that 'we' have a common history. 'We' don't have common histories.
'chiding': I am just reading a novel at the moment. I am finding that the novelist is introducing a lot of words that I am not familiar with. The novelist is even introducing some french expressions and some foreign words. No problem if you have got a computer, but beyond the scope of an English dictionary.
We do novelists do this?
One reason is that the author has a different word set to me. The author knows different words to me.
The other reason, is that 'readers' often read to improve their vocabulary, and they think that the novelist is good if he or she introduces them to new words and concepts.
'chiding' is a rather unusual and archaic word.
If you are in the UK and someone comes up to you and says: "You have egg on your chin". Your first reaction will be to think, "I have not eaten egg this morning". You will then look downwards, if you are a man that is.
Have you forgotten to fasten your fly?
It is not plural.
The expression means, that 'we' have a common history. 'We' don't have common histories.
'chiding': I am just reading a novel at the moment. I am finding that the novelist is introducing a lot of words that I am not familiar with. The novelist is even introducing some french expressions and some foreign words. No problem if you have got a computer, but beyond the scope of an English dictionary.
We do novelists do this?
One reason is that the author has a different word set to me. The author knows different words to me.
The other reason, is that 'readers' often read to improve their vocabulary, and they think that the novelist is good if he or she introduces them to new words and concepts.
'chiding' is a rather unusual and archaic word.
If you are in the UK and someone comes up to you and says: "You have egg on your chin". Your first reaction will be to think, "I have not eaten egg this morning". You will then look downwards, if you are a man that is.
Have you forgotten to fasten your fly?
>> 'chiding' is a rather unusual and archaic word <<
What's unusual or archaic about it? I use it all the time.
What's unusual or archaic about it? I use it all the time.
<<I would say, "We go back a long way".
It is not plural.
>>
The -s on "ways" is not the plural s, rather it is the adverbial s (as in "towards", "backwards", "always", etc)
"a long way" is taken as an adverbial clause and as a unit, as if it were: We go back (a-long-way), we go back (a-long-way)s
as if you were saying
He walked (backward), he walked (backward)s
You could say either: with or without the s
It is not plural.
>>
The -s on "ways" is not the plural s, rather it is the adverbial s (as in "towards", "backwards", "always", etc)
"a long way" is taken as an adverbial clause and as a unit, as if it were: We go back (a-long-way), we go back (a-long-way)s
as if you were saying
He walked (backward), he walked (backward)s
You could say either: with or without the s
<<
'chiding': I am just reading a novel at the moment. I am finding that the novelist is introducing a lot of words that I am not familiar with. The novelist is even introducing some french expressions and some foreign words. No problem if you have got a computer, but beyond the scope of an English dictionary.>>
They are probably well know. Maybe it's just you who doesn't know them. That's your problem, not the author's. If you don't like it, don't read it!
<<We do novelists do this?>>
Because not everyone is a fan of Simple English.
<<One reason is that the author has a different word set to me. The author knows different words to me.>>
Yes, the author knows different words to you. And not only the author, but the majority of the readership.
<<chiding' is a rather unusual and archaic word.>>
Completely normal word.
Seriously, why don't you go read Winnie the Pooh?
'chiding': I am just reading a novel at the moment. I am finding that the novelist is introducing a lot of words that I am not familiar with. The novelist is even introducing some french expressions and some foreign words. No problem if you have got a computer, but beyond the scope of an English dictionary.>>
They are probably well know. Maybe it's just you who doesn't know them. That's your problem, not the author's. If you don't like it, don't read it!
<<We do novelists do this?>>
Because not everyone is a fan of Simple English.
<<One reason is that the author has a different word set to me. The author knows different words to me.>>
Yes, the author knows different words to you. And not only the author, but the majority of the readership.
<<chiding' is a rather unusual and archaic word.>>
Completely normal word.
Seriously, why don't you go read Winnie the Pooh?
Though I don't suppose my two cents matter, I would say, "We go back a long wayS."
It's just colloquial, I think - one of those phrases that is seldom written in proper English and, as a result, almost never considered. It doesn't make sense but, in some places, if you were to say "We go back a long way," it would sound funny.
Also, the wording is a bit awkward for me. I think the average American English speaker in conversation would instead say, “We go way back.”
Again, just my two cents.
It's just colloquial, I think - one of those phrases that is seldom written in proper English and, as a result, almost never considered. It doesn't make sense but, in some places, if you were to say "We go back a long way," it would sound funny.
Also, the wording is a bit awkward for me. I think the average American English speaker in conversation would instead say, “We go way back.”
Again, just my two cents.
A long ways is a common colloquialism, as Kitsch says. Maybe it's mainly American; I don't really know. Seems like the American posters are the ones most familiar with it.
It also appears in other phrases dealing with distance rather than time, as in "it's a little ways up the street, on the left". "Ways" in this type of usage is not considered plural, even though it looks like one. there are some other words like backwards, afterwards, and forwards that also share this trait. You will also hear it occasionally in "anyways".
Chide is a word that doesn't get said in conversation much, but most English-speakers will know what it means. It's old-fashioned, but not completely gone.
It also appears in other phrases dealing with distance rather than time, as in "it's a little ways up the street, on the left". "Ways" in this type of usage is not considered plural, even though it looks like one. there are some other words like backwards, afterwards, and forwards that also share this trait. You will also hear it occasionally in "anyways".
Chide is a word that doesn't get said in conversation much, but most English-speakers will know what it means. It's old-fashioned, but not completely gone.
<<A long ways is a common colloquialism, as Kitsch says. Maybe it's mainly American; I don't really know. Seems like the American posters are the ones most familiar with it. >>>
NZ too.
NZ too.