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On October 01 2009 13:54 TheFoReveRwaR wrote: 2 or 4. Language is not math. That is the problem you are having. You're thinking mathematically about something that is not inherently mathematical at all.
yeah i actually thought about that after I said 4 t_t
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On October 01 2009 13:54 SmokeMaxX wrote:Show nested quote +On October 01 2009 13:12 Mortality wrote: As of me reading this, 73 out of 140 of you have said a pair of twins means 4 people. That means 73 of you are illiterate. The correct phrase of speech is to refer to two individuals born the same time as a pair of twins. Then it's either grammatically or logically incorrect. Is a starfish a fish?
well it's not a star
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Its a mollusc I think
It could have gills, fins, and a skeletal structure that's so hot it fuses huge amounts of hydrogen together into various elements at its core, I've never opened one upmyself. But I pretty sure a starfish is not a star fish.
See how fun( pointless) arguing semantics is?
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I like Mora's explanation.
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A teacher is one person.
A pair of teachers is two people.
A twin is one person.
A pair of twins is two people.
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On October 01 2009 14:04 TheFoReveRwaR wrote:Its a mollusc I think  It could have gills, fins, and a skeletal structure that's so hot it fuses huge amounts of hydrogen together into various elements at its core, I've never opened one upmyself. But I pretty sure a starfish is not a star fish. See how fun( pointless) arguing semantics is?
It's an Echinoderm
Phylum Echinodermata != Phylum Mollusca.
They're similar though, it's mostly the deuterstome development and secondary radial symmetry that seperates the two groups.
EDIT: To contribute to the thread.
My gut reaction is 4, my logical reaction is 2. So i'm sitting here in a mental war with myself trying to work it out.
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On October 01 2009 14:12 Kaialynn wrote:Show nested quote +On October 01 2009 14:04 TheFoReveRwaR wrote:Its a mollusc I think  It could have gills, fins, and a skeletal structure that's so hot it fuses huge amounts of hydrogen together into various elements at its core, I've never opened one upmyself. But I pretty sure a starfish is not a star fish. See how fun( pointless) arguing semantics is? It's an Echinoderm Phylum Echinodermata != Phylum Mollusca. They're similar though, it's mostly the deuterstome development and secondary radial symmetry that seperates the two groups. EDIT: To contribute to the thread. My gut reaction is 4, my logical reaction is 2. So i'm sitting here in a mental war with myself trying to work it out. I appreciate your biology education, it is contributing to the thread TL needs something for the people with ADD too. You should read my first post on this topic though. Might help negotiate a cease fire for your mental war.
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On October 01 2009 14:15 TheFoReveRwaR wrote:Show nested quote +On October 01 2009 14:12 Kaialynn wrote:On October 01 2009 14:04 TheFoReveRwaR wrote:Its a mollusc I think  It could have gills, fins, and a skeletal structure that's so hot it fuses huge amounts of hydrogen together into various elements at its core, I've never opened one upmyself. But I pretty sure a starfish is not a star fish. See how fun( pointless) arguing semantics is? It's an Echinoderm Phylum Echinodermata != Phylum Mollusca. They're similar though, it's mostly the deuterstome development and secondary radial symmetry that seperates the two groups. EDIT: To contribute to the thread. My gut reaction is 4, my logical reaction is 2. So i'm sitting here in a mental war with myself trying to work it out. I appreciate your biology education  You should read my first post on this topic. Might help negotiate a cease fire for your mental war.
:x dunno if that was sarcastic or not, you can never tell over the interwebs anymore. Either way, your post clears up quite a bit. Thanks.
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I just read up to page 4 and I am confused as hell..how are there so many votes for a pair of twins being 4 people? I understand this site might not have a lot of native english speakers but jeese..
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I'm sarcastic a lot but I actually am happy to pick up obscure info like that. Thats not something a lot of people would know, you know? Are you a biology major? You probably shouldn't answer that in this thread though. PM me if you feel like answering. We probably shouldn't use the message board to IM.
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Why can't it have 2 meanings, like bimonthly?
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On October 01 2009 14:26 Avidkeystamper wrote: Why can't it have 2 meanings, like bimonthly? FLIP FLOPPER!!
PICK A FUCKING SIDE OR YOU ARE A TERRORIST.
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Braavos36375 Posts
On October 01 2009 14:19 KurtistheTurtle wrote: I just read up to page 4 and I am confused as hell..how are there so many votes for a pair of twins being 4 people? I understand this site might not have a lot of native english speakers but jeese.. its a lot of people voting for four because they don't live in the united states and know that its an idiom. in the united states, a pair of twins means two people. there's no other meaning.
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United States10774 Posts
my reaction was 4, but 2 makes more sense after thinking about it haha
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On October 01 2009 14:35 Hot_Bid wrote:Show nested quote +On October 01 2009 14:19 KurtistheTurtle wrote: I just read up to page 4 and I am confused as hell..how are there so many votes for a pair of twins being 4 people? I understand this site might not have a lot of native english speakers but jeese.. its a lot of people voting for four because they don't live in the united states and know that its an idiom. in the united states, a pair of twins means two people. there's no other meaning. A pair of twin's could be four individuals depending on how it was worded contextually.
IE:"Both sisters gave birth to a pair of twins." It's four individuals in that somewhat specialized context, not two. However, the phrase is identical. A pair of twins.
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On October 01 2009 14:39 TheFoReveRwaR wrote:Show nested quote +On October 01 2009 14:35 Hot_Bid wrote:On October 01 2009 14:19 KurtistheTurtle wrote: I just read up to page 4 and I am confused as hell..how are there so many votes for a pair of twins being 4 people? I understand this site might not have a lot of native english speakers but jeese.. its a lot of people voting for four because they don't live in the united states and know that its an idiom. in the united states, a pair of twins means two people. there's no other meaning. A pair of twin's could be four individuals depending on how it was worded contextually. IE:"Both sisters gave birth to a pair of twins." It's four individuals in that somewhat specialized context, not two. However, the phrase is identical. A pair of twins.
Actually the sentence you provided uses "a pair of twins" as equaling two people. Both sisters gave birth to two people, in other words, if you put the words "two people" instead of "a pair of twins".
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On October 01 2009 12:36 L wrote: Hey guys, I have a Pair of Scissors.
How many Scissors do I have?
bout tree fiddy
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In the context of it being an idiom, the answer is two. However, logically and grammatically, it's four.
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On October 01 2009 14:19 KurtistheTurtle wrote: I just read up to page 4 and I am confused as hell..how are there so many votes for a pair of twins being 4 people? I understand this site might not have a lot of native english speakers but jeese..
Yeah it's non-native speakers mostly who don't understand that what a term means is not always what it literally appears to mean. These non-native speakers try to deduce what it means based on logic rather than a common understanding of the usage.
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