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Espeland Posted 19 years ago
Vocabulary

eight (noun, "the first eight")

Hello !

I've got a comprehension problem with a passage from Hemingway's "The old man and the sea" :

"They had gone one day and one night with their elbows on a chalk line on the table and their forearms straight up and their hands gripped tight. Each one was trying to force the other's hand down onto the table [...] They changed the referees every four hours after the first eight so that the referees could sleep." (p. 51 sq.)

What is the meaning of "the first eight" ? I've been looking in several dictionaries but couldn't find a sense that fits to "eight" as a noun here...
  

Top answer

After the first eight hours. Thereafter they changed referees every four hours.

— Feebs11

  • After the first eight hours.
  • Thereafter they changed referees every four hours.
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3 Answers
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After the first eight hours. Thereafter they changed referees every four hours.
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Feebs11After the first eight hours. Thereafter they changed referees every four hours.
Ah, is this possible then to leave out the word "one" (after the first eight ones) ?
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Espeland
Feebs11After the first eight hours. Thereafter they changed referees every four hours.
Ah, is this possible then to leave out the word "one" (after the first eight ones) ?
I prefer to think of it as leaving out the word "hours". Any plural with 'one' hurts my ear. "I like all th
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