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No it isn't. Nobody says "one blockchain, two blockchain, oh hey look I found a bunch of new blockchain". Blockchain is here being used in reference to the tec
by hannasanarion 8y ago
No it isn't. Nobody says "one blockchain, two blockchain, oh hey look I found a bunch of new blockchain".
Blockchain is here being used in reference to the technology itself, not the collection of its manifestations. Just like you might say "how the internal combustion engine works" or "how insertion sort works"
- supersock 8y agoDoes anyone say "here's one water, two waters"?
- chaosphere2112 8y agoWhen ordering at a restaurant, yes.
- jnordwick 8y agoI think that is an example of synecdoche, using a part (the water) to represent the whole (the glass of water).
- CraneWorm 8y ago> [...] words in English often carry a number of different meanings, and these can affect whether a word will be considered countable in one instance compared to another. https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Uncountable-Nouns.htm https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Uncountable-Nouns.htm
- monocasa 8y agoWhen they're discrete, yes. Like asking someone "can you grab a couple waters while you're in the kitchen?"
- hannasanarion 8y agoWater is a mass noun, generally used for things indivisible or uncountable. In English, you can tell if a noun is a mass noun if it cannot be used with the indefinite article "a". "*Oh hey look, I found a sand" "Oh hey look, I found a blockchain" It doesn't fail the test, so it must be a count noun. (PS: water is a bad example, because "a water" is a common abbreviation for "a glass of water" that's old enough it's probably lexicalized in a lot of people's heads. "sand", "salt", "bread", "wood", or "rice" are better examples)