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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

expression inquiry

Why is ‘cactus’ and not ‘cactuses’ used in this expression.

The world is full of ‘cactus’, but we don’t have to sit on it.

Thanks.
  

Top answer

Anonymous Why is ‘cactus’ and not ‘cactuses’ used in this expression ? Maybe the writer thought 'cactus' was the plural as well as the singular. The real plural is actually 'cacti'.

— CalifJim

  • Anonymous Why is ‘cactus’ and not ‘cactuses’ used in this expression ?
  • Maybe the writer thought 'cactus' was the plural as well as the singular.
  • The real plural is actually 'cacti'.
  • Or maybe the writer is treating 'cactus' as an uncountable substance and thus speaking metaphorically.
  • To know the real answer to your question you would have to ask the person who wrote the sentence.
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8 Answers
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AnonymousWhy is ‘cactus’ and not ‘cactuses’ used in this expression?
Maybe the writer thought 'cactus' was the plural as well as the singular. The real plural is actually 'cacti'.
Or maybe the writer is treating 'cactus' as an uncountable substance and thus speaking metaphorically.

To know the real answer to yo
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CalifJim AnonymousWhy is ‘cactus’ and not ‘cactuses’ used in this expression?Maybe the writer thought 'cactus' was the plural as well as the singular. The real plural is actually 'cacti'.Or maybe the writer is treating 'cactus' as an uncountable substance and thus speaking metaphorically.To know the real answer to your question you would have to ask the person who wrote t
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AnonymousBut if the writer thought that cactus was both singular and plural and treated it as plural, shouldn't he have said 'on them' instead of 'on it' at the end?
Correct. You have eliminated one possible explanation.
AnonymousI am thinking that the most probable explanation is your second that the writer was metaphorically speaking
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CalifJim AnonymousBut if the writer thought that cactus was both singular and plural and treated it as plural, shouldn't he have said 'on them' instead of 'on it' at the end?Correct. You have eliminated one possible explanation.AnonymousI am thinking that the most probable explanation is your second that the writer was metaphorically speaking. Do you agree?Yes.AnonymousAl
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Anonymous1. Do you prefer the metaphorical sentence or the second one with the plural cacti?
The metaphoric version.
Anonymous2. Doesn't Isn't the set phrase 'full of' unusually be usually followed by plural words (rather than singular), such
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CalifJim Anonymous1. Do you prefer the metaphorical sentence or the second one with the plural cacti?The metaphoric version.Anonymous2. Doesn't Isn't the set phrase 'full of' unusually be usually followed by plural words (rather than singular), such as cars, things, flowers etc.?Yes, if they are countable, but "full of" takes a singular uncountable, e.g., a bottle full of
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Anonymousno such thing as 'plural uncountable'
Right. That's a contradiction in terms. Plural means "two or more", and that involves counting.
Anonymous'singular uncountable' just to clarify.
Yes.

CJ
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CalifJim Anonymousno such thing as 'plural uncountable'Right. That's a contradiction in terms. Plural means "two or more", and that involves counting.Anonymous'singular uncountable' just to clarify.Yes.CJ
Thanks a lot for your help, CJ! Take care and talk to you later.
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