> > > | > | One tooth is a tooth, but two of them are teeth. | > | Del > | > This is like the current museum fret about the records of > harpsichords. In the old inventories of what was in the palaces there > is mention of a "pair of cembalos" Some say this refers not to two > harpsichords but rather a harpsichord with two keyboards, just as > "pair of pants" refers to one piece of clothing that has two > gs. ---ric > > That is something that is continually bothering me : My wife is a native American and we speak in two languages, or in a mix of the two. In English, the word 'a pair of pants' defines two pieces, two pants. In Holland, the same article is called 'een broek' (or more old fashioned :pantalon), and the word 'een' means one, or 1. So when she asks me to find her pants, she might ask : where are they? and in Dutch : waar zijn zij? a literal translation, because 'zij' is plural where as the Dutch 'broek' is singular. Now, let's not ask about > my < mistakes huh? PS. I want to ask Susan Kline, who has a beautiful dictionnairy, if she can explain the Dutch word 'broek', because to me it doesn't make sense at all. Close to Amsterdam there is also a small place called : Broek in Waterland If you say : broek broek broek broek broek broek broek broek broek broek broek broek broek broek broek broek... it sounds to me like a barge puffing by in the canal in front of my house. Should I see my doctor? Antares, Amsterdam, Holland where music is..........
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