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nona the brit

#358447 Tue, 01 May 07 08:11 AM

Back to the topic please, everyone.

Any further posts regarding penguins/tourists or similar diversions will be deleted.

nona the brit

Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004

England

Veteran Member (11,495)

The name says it all.

Stannum

#358471 Tue, 01 May 07 09:09 AM

Nona The Brit wrote:
Back to the topic please, everyone.
Any further posts regarding penguins/tourists or similar diversions will be deleted.

G'day Nona,

And not before time.

You are, of course due to your moderator's position, 100 percent right 100 percent of the time. Indifferent [:|]

See ya

Stannum

Stannum

Joined on Fri, Oct 28 2005

Melbourne Australia

Regular Member (526)

Kooyeen

#358620 Tue, 01 May 07 03:01 PM

Grammar Geek wrote:
Yes, but it was (I'm fairly certain) said in jest.

Kooyeen should have written "I don't like that plural EITHER," not "too" and Jim was chiding him about it.

Yes

, it's because I always make the same mistake Crying [:'(]

, I know I have to use "either", but I keep making that mistake and I don't know why. Crying [:'(]

Jim always points that out, I think this is the third or fourth time! LOL

As for percentages and percents, I just did a search on the net, and it seems "percents" is actually used instead of percentages, in some cases. This ---> http://www.jamesbrennan.org/algebra/numbers/percents.htm talks about percents, and it's written by James Brennan, Boise State University, Idaho. I see there are a lot of websites that deal with "percents"...
However, I think "percents" is not really a correct term, I think the standard one in mathematics is always "percentages". Smile [:)]

Kooyeen

Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005

Italy

Senior Member (4,162)

If you don't have a sense of humor already, it's about time you buy one.

Grammar, Plurals, Numbers, Universities

Yankee

#358643 Tue, 01 May 07 03:49 PM

Kooyeen wrote:

... it seems "percents" is actually used instead of percentages, in some cases.

You didn't really doubt GG and me, did you, Kooyeen? Smile [:)]

Here is an entry from the American Heritage Dictionary for the noun 'percent'. It specifically notes that the plural form (with 's') exists:
2. pl. percents A percentage or portion: She has invested a large percent of her salary.

It does appear that this may be strictly an American usage, though. Sticking with the nouns 'percentage' and 'percentages' will probably be less confusing, too.