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A pair of twins? - Page 7

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Jonoman92
Profile Blog Joined September 2006
United States9107 Posts
October 01 2009 06:32 GMT
#121
It could go either way. Like anything else, it really depends on context but I voted 4.
Divinek
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
Canada4045 Posts
October 01 2009 06:35 GMT
#122
On October 01 2009 10:38 Liquid`NonY wrote:
obviously 2 people you guys are crazy

"a pair" = 2
"of twins" is just a description

a pair of anything is two of that thing

2 pair of twins would be 4 people

if there was a big group of twins and someone asked "how many pairs of twins are here?" you would obviously just divide the total number of people by two.


Yeah exactly.

I can't believe this is so debated. While people could obviously misunderstand the meaning, a pair has to be two things.

You know shoes comes in a pair always like twins. I have a shoe, I have a twin, pair of shoes, pair of twins.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
Oh goodness me, FOX tv where do you get your sight? Can't you keep track, the puck is black. That's why the ice is white.
EatThePath
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
United States3943 Posts
October 01 2009 06:38 GMT
#123
I have heard commonly "a pair of twins" used to mean 2 people, the twins, and I say it that way all the time. I would consider it a strange syntactic corner to find oneself in if you were trying to get across that there are four people comprised of two sets of twins by saying "pair of twins", but its a reasonable interpretation.
Comprehensive strategic intention: DNE
GuYuTe-
Profile Joined February 2005
United States550 Posts
October 01 2009 06:39 GMT
#124
It's 2 for sure.

Like the poster earlier in this thread who likened it to socks. A pair of socks is 2 socks. It's the same thing.
hixhix
Profile Blog Joined September 2004
1156 Posts
October 01 2009 06:40 GMT
#125
The balance of the poll is really interesting. I voted for 2
cgrinker
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States3824 Posts
October 01 2009 06:41 GMT
#126
You wouldn't say a pair of twin though. Twins doesn't imply the fact that there are two as much as the two things are identical.
PH
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States6173 Posts
October 01 2009 06:50 GMT
#127
"A pair of twins" will likely most commonly refer to two who/which are twins...

But, depending on the context, it could denote a "pair of twins" meaning two sets of twins. The English language gets to be context dependent like that, nothing to worry about.
Hello
illu
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
Canada2531 Posts
October 01 2009 07:32 GMT
#128
Twin is one person.
Pair of Twins is two persons.


Thank you, come again.
:]
Arbiter[frolix]
Profile Joined January 2004
United Kingdom2674 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-01 07:36:40
October 01 2009 07:35 GMT
#129
Words are not entities existing independently of human communication, residing in the ether holding onto something you might characterise as "meaning". Therefore one should not think there is a definitive answer to the question in the original post.

It strikes me that the fact there is scope for miscommunication in the phrase "a pair of twins" is the precise reason that it is generally not used and why people are more likely to say "a set of twins" and "two sets of twins" or analogous expressions.

The results of the poll are of interest insofar as they indicate the various ways that ambiguous words and expressions may strike people.
We are vigilant.
SmokeMaxX
Profile Joined July 2009
United States17 Posts
October 01 2009 08:11 GMT
#130
Like 90% of the people who've posted on this thread have not read more than a page of it. The socks example is invalid.

If I said look at that pair of triplets, how many people am I speaking of?

By using the socks example you're trying to reference the singular sock vs. twin argument. However, the people who are claiming the answer is four are saying that twins references two people in and of itself (definition on page 4 or 5). Therefore a pair of something that already consists of a multiple is two times that multiple. It sounds awkward but what about a pair of X? Now imagine X = a dozen eggs. So you have two eggs? No you obviously have 24 now. Now replace X with twins (and twins = 2 people via the dictionary referenced in a previous post). 2 X 2 = 4.
DTMDSK
Hot_Bid
Profile Blog Joined October 2003
Braavos36390 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-01 08:27:37
October 01 2009 08:22 GMT
#131
a pair of triplets is two triplets

i think people are getting confused because they think "twins" means two twins, where the "s" added to the end of "twin(s)" is just the plural form of twin. it doesn't actually mean two twins. the "s" is added because "pair" grammatically requires a plural noun.
@Hot_Bid on Twitter - ESPORTS life since 2010 - http://i.imgur.com/U2psw.png
Divinek
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
Canada4045 Posts
October 01 2009 08:25 GMT
#132
On October 01 2009 17:11 SmokeMaxX wrote:
Like 90% of the people who've posted on this thread have not read more than a page of it. The socks example is invalid.

If I said look at that pair of triplets, how many people am I speaking of?

By using the socks example you're trying to reference the singular sock vs. twin argument. However, the people who are claiming the answer is four are saying that twins references two people in and of itself (definition on page 4 or 5). Therefore a pair of something that already consists of a multiple is two times that multiple. It sounds awkward but what about a pair of X? Now imagine X = a dozen eggs. So you have two eggs? No you obviously have 24 now. Now replace X with twins (and twins = 2 people via the dictionary referenced in a previous post). 2 X 2 = 4.


yes but everyone and their retarded dog would know 'a pair of a dozen eggs' would mean two things of a dozen eggs there in being 24 eggs. The dozen eggs would be a single object of thought, consisting of those 12 eggs.

twins does referece two people, just like socks reference two socks. Pair of socks is still two socks...you have to think out your examples a little better.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
Oh goodness me, FOX tv where do you get your sight? Can't you keep track, the puck is black. That's why the ice is white.
Hot_Bid
Profile Blog Joined October 2003
Braavos36390 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-01 08:32:02
October 01 2009 08:29 GMT
#133
On October 01 2009 17:25 Divinek wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 01 2009 17:11 SmokeMaxX wrote:
Like 90% of the people who've posted on this thread have not read more than a page of it. The socks example is invalid.

If I said look at that pair of triplets, how many people am I speaking of?

By using the socks example you're trying to reference the singular sock vs. twin argument. However, the people who are claiming the answer is four are saying that twins references two people in and of itself (definition on page 4 or 5). Therefore a pair of something that already consists of a multiple is two times that multiple. It sounds awkward but what about a pair of X? Now imagine X = a dozen eggs. So you have two eggs? No you obviously have 24 now. Now replace X with twins (and twins = 2 people via the dictionary referenced in a previous post). 2 X 2 = 4.


yes but everyone and their retarded dog would know 'a pair of a dozen eggs' would mean two things of a dozen eggs there in being 24 eggs. The dozen eggs would be a single object of thought, consisting of those 12 eggs.

twins does referece two people, just like socks reference two socks. Pair of socks is still two socks...you have to think out your examples a little better.

no, twins does not reference two people. twins means more than one person who is a twin.

thats why you can say there are five twins. that means 5 people, not 10 people.
so when i say two twins, thats 2 people, not 4 people.
when i say a pair of twins, that's two people, not 4 people.

the only reason its confusing is because when you say "Pair of X" the X has to be pluralized per rules of english grammer. "pair of twins" actually means a pair of [person who is a twin]
@Hot_Bid on Twitter - ESPORTS life since 2010 - http://i.imgur.com/U2psw.png
SilverSkyLark
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Philippines8437 Posts
October 01 2009 08:54 GMT
#134
someone check OED (Oxford English Dictionary) and check twins so we can end this..
"If i lost an arm, I would play w3." -IntoTheWow || "Member of Hyuk Hyuk Hyuk cafe. He's the next Jaedong, baby!"
baal
Profile Joined March 2003
10669 Posts
October 01 2009 09:41 GMT
#135
lol i cant believe the 4 option is winning....


Im back, in pog form!
zergnewb
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States816 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-01 09:48:53
October 01 2009 09:48 GMT
#136
I voted four on instinct at first, but the more I thought of it I realized 2 is the answer. >.<
Welcome to the Durst-Zone
KwarK
Profile Blog Joined July 2006
United States43817 Posts
October 01 2009 09:56 GMT
#137
A twin is someone who shared a womb with one other person. A pair of twins is two twins together, so both people who shared the womb. 2 people. If you read it the other way you're misapplying the word pair in this situation. Pair here doesn't mean there are 2 of them but rather that they are matching. It just says they are each others twin, rather than 2 unrelated people together who were both born as twins.
ModeratorThe angels have the phone box
CFDragon
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United States304 Posts
October 01 2009 09:56 GMT
#138
When you say "two twins", you don't mean four people. So why would a pair be four?
Ota Solgryn
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
Denmark2011 Posts
October 01 2009 10:12 GMT
#139
On October 01 2009 11:14 .risingdragoon wrote:
the truth is you're both right

a twin = 1, meaning 1 half part of twins
twins = 2 obviously
a pair of twins = 2 x twins (2) = 4

get it?


So.. by your logic:

a shoe = 1
shoes = 2+
a pair of shoes = 2x 2+ shoes = 4+ shoes

So, you are wrong.
ihasaKAROT: "Wish people would stop wasting their lives on finding flaws in others"
Liquid`Nazgul
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
22427 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-01 10:30:36
October 01 2009 10:29 GMT
#140
ahhaha the thought of a pair of shoes being 4+ how the hell are people voting 4 here thats just funny :D

you guys are a pair of dummies
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