Take a bath everyday

Question

Let me ask a question about the following.
1) take a bath everyday 2) take baths everyday.
1) is quite clear in meaning, giving no room to misunderstand. one bath each day
So, my question is about 2).
a) Does this mean: take more than one bath each day, in other words, taking a bath several times a day, that is done everyday?

b) Or, could it mean baths as a total since you take it everyday? Some days you might take one bath, and others days more than one. But it amounts to you taking many baths totally by counting each day's, one bath a day or more than that.
Meaning that way, can you say that you take baths everyday?

Am I clear? I may not so. It's much burden explaing but I think it an exercise also.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

Masa wrote on 24 Jan 2005:
[nq:1]Let me ask a question about the following. 1) take a bath everyday 2) take baths everyday.[/nq]
That "every day" the adverb phrase, not "everyday" the adjective.
[nq:1]1) is quite clear in meaning, giving no room to misunderstand. : one bath each day So, my question is ... baths everyday? Am I clear? I may not so. It's much burden explaing but I think it an exercise also.[/nq]
Well, if someone told me that they "take baths every day", I would respond with "How many (baths do you take every day)?" But some people will say this to mean "I take a bath every day."

Why say something ambiguous when you can say something clear, precise, and specific? OTOH, if you want to be ambiguous and there are plenty of reasons one might want to be "I take baths every day" is fine. If you want to indicate that you take more than one bath some days, however, "I take at least one bath every day" is probably better. If you're a chambermaid or valet, you might want to say "I draw baths every day", which means "Every day, I fill up the bathtub more than once a day for my employer(s)."

Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
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Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Let me ask a question about the following. 1) take a bath everyday 2) take baths everyday. 1) is quite ... baths everyday? Am I clear? I may not so. It's much burden explaing but I think it an exercise also.[/nq]
To "take baths everyday" means that on each day more than one bath is taken.

Mike

Usenet · Answer

} }> Let me ask a question about the following.
}>
}> 1) take a bath everyday 2) take baths everyday. }>
}>
}> 1) is quite clear in meaning, giving no room to misunderstand. }> : one bath each day
}>
}> So, my question is about 2).
}>
}> a) Does this mean: take more than one bath each day, in other words, }> taking a bath several times a day, that is done everyday? }>
}> b) Or, could it mean baths as a total since you take it everyday? }> Some days you might take one bath, and others days more than one. }> But it amounts to you taking many baths totally by counting each day's, }> one bath a day or more than that.
}>
}> Meaning that way, can you say that you take baths everyday? }>
}> Am I clear? I may not so. It's much burden explaing but I think it }> an exercise also.
}
} To "take baths everyday" means that on each day more than one bath is taken.

Well, prescinding from the every-day question, not necessarily by the same person. One's children might take baths every day without the implication that any one of them take more than one.

R. J. Valentine

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Let me ask a question about the following. 1) take a bath everyday 2) take baths everyday. 1) is quite ... baths everyday? Am I clear? I may not so. It's much burden explaing but I think it an exercise also.[/nq]
Moot, as they're both wrong. "Everyday" is an adjective.
Aaron Davies
Opinions expressed are solely those of a random number generator. "I don't know if it's real or not but it is a myth." -Jami JoAnne of alt.folklore.urban, showing her grasp on reality.

Usenet · Answer

Yet, I could argue that saying "my children take baths every day" can mean that the children each take more than one bath/day. In my response to the OP I left out any mention of the number of people involved as he did not really specify. His question was, to the best of my understanding, He wants to know if the plurality of "baths" can in that context refer to the collective amount of bathing incidents if they only occur once per day.

I submit that while it can be to mean that (oh, the power of the mind), it can't technically mean that. Whether the intent of the phrase is to convey that one person is taking bath(s)/day or several people are each taking bath(s)/day, saying "take baths every day" technically means that on each day more than one bath is taken.
Mike
P.S. Thanks for using the word "prescinding." IIRC, nobody else has ever bothered to share that word with me.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]To "take baths everyday" means that on each day more than one bath is taken.[/nq]
Well, it doesn't mean* that. It *says that. We have no trouble understanding what "I'm dead on my feet" means despite what the person is saying.
There are people here that have me in their "kill file". They don't have a file that they keep, there is no murderous intent, and I am not in their reader's file of screen names to not show the postings of. I know exactly what they mean, though, when they say I am in their kill file.

Usenet · Answer

Yesterday, CyberCypher (Email Removed) gosled:
[nq:2]Let me ask a question about the following. 1) take a bath everyday 2) take baths everyday.[/nq]
[nq:1]That "every day" the adverb phrase, not "everyday" the adjective.[/nq]
Skitt. :-)
Kraft (i.e., Kraft Foods North America or some related company) recently came out with a new publication called food & family (sic). On its cover, immediately below the title, is "Delicious. Simple. Everyday.".

Michael Hamm
AM, Math, Wash. U. St. Louis
(Email Removed) Fine print:
http://math.wustl.edu/~msh210/ ... legal.html

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]To "take baths everyday" means that on each day more than one bath istaken.[/nq]
[nq:1]Well, it doesn't mean* that. It *says that. We have no trouble understanding what "I'm dead on my feet" means despite what the person is saying.[/nq]
There can be a difference between what things mean and how they are understood. There can be a difference between what things mean and how they are used. There can be a difference between what things mean when taken literally and what things mean when taken figuratively. "I'm dead on my feet" is rather idiomatic and therefore completely different from the sentence about which the OP was inquiring. The issue in question, in this case, is one of technicality. If we were discussing some oft used idiom, I would agree with you. Many times technical meaning is thrown out the window and a completely irrelevant "meaning" is assigned to a word or phrase. This is not the case in the OP's question."I take baths every day" will probably be understood by most people as "On average I take one bath per day" not because that is what it technically "means," but because that is what would make the most sense with regard to most people's experience. In fact, most people probably wouldn't care how many baths this guy takes (unless close proximity is unavoidable) and their mind would effortlessly "understand" it in a way that is congruent with their expectations and experiences.

If, however, somebody said to me "I take baths everyday," I would ask, "How can you take more than one bath per day and still smell so rotten?" Or I would comment, "If you started using soap you could probably cut down to one bath per day." I could make those smart-*** retorts because the speaker's intent would not be accurately reflected in his choice of words, even if I was able understand him.

Mike

Take a bath everyday

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