4 ms·

Does anyone say "here's one water, two waters"?

• chaosphere2112 8y ago
  When ordering at a restaurant, yes.
  • jnordwick 8y ago
    I 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 ago
  When they're discrete, yes. Like asking someone "can you grab a couple waters while you're in the kitchen?"
• hannasanarion 8y ago
  Water 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)