Good Food

Discussion in 'Linguistics' started by PsychoticEpisode, Jul 11, 2009.

  1. PsychoticEpisode It is very dry in here today Valued Senior Member

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    How many times have you seen a dining advertisement that promoted good food. I was just wondering if the combination of those two words is proper English. Should food be pluralized as in good foods.

    It doesn't appear to be that way for the word good. If I specify a baked good then I should expect only one type of ware (i.e. cake). The word goods is used to convey more than one delicacy yet the word food in its singular form (i.e. baked food) can mean several.

    People often refer to the Earth's bounty as foods of the world. I can see that if one used the singular of food in that expression then it could mean the same. Is one usage more proper than the other?

    The similar word wood also shares the dual plurality. If I use it as a synonym for a forested area then is it proper to use the singular or plural?

    How did certain words become both singular and plural? Through the normal evolution of language? Did they always have a double use?
     
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  3. mathman Valued Senior Member

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    Sometimes nouns are neither singular or plural. "Food" in the expression "good food" is a collective noun referring to all the food served. In the expression "foods of the world" the term "food" refers to a variety of food, not just stuff you eat, so it can be singular (food) or plural (foods).
     
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  5. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    This particular type of noun is a commodity noun. Commodity nouns are used for substances and abstractions which do not exist in discrete units.

    "This is a good apple." But (almost) never "This is a good rice, water, food, air, etc." You can't hand me a package containing one rice or two foods. It's "This is good rice, water, food, air, etc."

    The exception is when we use the noun to mean a specific type of the substance or abstraction. "Basmati is a good rice" really means that Basmati is a good variety of rice. "Aquafina was a bogus water" really means that the Aquafina brand of bottled water was found to be unprocessed tap water. "There are many foods available in Washington, DC" really means that you can find many national and regional styles of food and ingredients for cooking in Washington's restaurants and markets. Hmmm... I can't think of an example like this for "air."

    The same is true of abstract nouns like peace, love and freedom. In general we say, "Pray for peace, I need love, our people cherish freedom." But in specific contexts we might say, "That was a depressingly short peace between WWI and WWII," "I have had many loves in my life but Shakira was the most memorable," "The U.S. Constitution guarantees four freedoms: speech, religion, press and assembly."

    And of course many words have multiple meanings. "He has an air of authority" has nothing to do with the concentration of nitrogen and carbon dioxide in his vicinity.
     
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