Subj : Old stuff
To   : mark lewis
From : Ardith Hinton
Date : Mon Feb 28 2022 23:52:12

Hi, Mark!  Recently you wrote in a message to Alexander Koryagin:

AK>  Why "flu season" without "a" article?

ml>  because it covers all flues... not just a specific one 
ml>  (the) or any one (a)...


          Yes, there are usually many different varieties in circulation... and for those who prepare the vaccines it's not easy to be sure in advance which of them will be most troublesome during the next fall/winter/spring flu season.


          At times people say they have the flu, but in most such cases I think they're assuming it's whichever variety is currently prevalent where they live. Either way we can use "the" without fretting about whether the article modifies only the word immediately it after it or the entire kit & kaboodle.  While some may choose to drop "the" in "flu" or "flu season", I can't think of a situation which would justify using "a" without doing quite a bit of rewording.  :-)


          Doing even more fine tuning, however:  when we say "flu" or "'flu" we are using a colloquial variation of "influenza"... a "flue" is typically a pipe or other enclosure which e.g. directs the flow of smoke in a chimney:

              A flea and a fly in a flue
              Were imprisoned, so what could they do?
              Said the flea, "Let us fly"...
              Said the fly, "Let us flee"...
              So they flew through a hole in the flue.

                                       -- traditional nursery rhyme


While I do realize it's not great poetry, it's what I grew up on.  But for most people here what matters is that if their dictionary doesn't list the plural of xxx I think it's safe to assume that all they need to do is add an "s"....  :-)



ml>  Look on my majesty, ye mighty, and despair! Or bring 
ml>  me catnip.


          I reckon you've had some experience with cats.  What I'd like to know is why... if, as scientists tell us, they can't see colours... why they seem to be quite selective about which balls from the Xmas tree they'll play with.  :-Q
      



--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

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