Funny Pic Thread. (Episode VI: Return of the Laugh)

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Danoff
I'm sure that the very next post under this one will be someone saying something to the effect of:

"I'm ADD and I don't see enough funny pictures. Make me laugh people!"

...but, to belabor the point, the sentence is grammatically correct. To require "toasts" you have to assume that the previous "toast" is the singular form of the word. But if you simply assume that is the plural form, the verb "toast" is appropriate. The plural form also makes the phrasing parallel with "toasters" - makes a lot more sense than unnecessarily assuming that the phrasing is not parallel and that the word toast is singular - thus requiring the verb "toasts".
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Ah, the third person plural angle - I toast, he/she/it toasts, they toast.

Interesting. The problem is that toast isn't really a plural - like one fish, two fish (red fish, blue fish?) or one sheep, two sheep - whereas toast isn't one toast, two toast, rather one piece of toast, two piece of toast. With a plural, I'd agree that the singular verb form is apt - people, fish and sheep can all toast toast. With toast and other collective numbers like "the world", "the England football team" and "the internet", the plurative verb form ought to be used - the world toasts toast, the internet toasts toast and the England football team toasts toast. Of course they can then be grouped as a plurality - they all toast toast.
 
Famine
Ah, the third person plural angle - I toast, he/she/it toasts, they toast.

Interesting. The problem is that toast isn't really a plural - like one fish, two fish (red fish, blue fish?) or one sheep, two sheep - whereas toast isn't one toast, two toast, rather one piece of toast, two piece of toast. With a plural, I'd agree that the singular verb form is apt - people, fish and sheep can all toast toast. With toast and other collective numbers like "the world", "the England football team" and "the internet", the plurative verb form ought to be used - the world toasts toast, the internet toasts toast and the England football team toasts toast. Of course they can then be grouped as a plurality - they all toast toast.
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How about as adjective or noun?

I toast, so I am a toaster?

Toasters toasts toast in a toaster?
 
Given that God is infinite, and that the universe is also infinite...
 
Famine
Ah, the third person plural angle - I toast, he/she/it toasts, they toast.

Interesting. The problem is that toast isn't really a plural - like one fish, two fish (red fish, blue fish?) or one sheep, two sheep - whereas toast isn't one toast, two toast, rather one piece of toast, two piece of toast. With a plural, I'd agree that the singular verb form is apt - people, fish and sheep can all toast toast. With toast and other collective numbers like "the world", "the England football team" and "the internet", the plurative verb form ought to be used - the world toasts toast, the internet toasts toast and the England football team toasts toast. Of course they can then be grouped as a plurality - they all toast toast.
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But your "people, fish, and sheep" example is the most apt here, because that's how the word is used. If it said "a toast", then it would need to be followed by "toasts". If it said "the group of toast", it would need to be followed, as you say, by "toasts". But it says "toast" like "fish", and so it needs to be followed by "toast".

Fish toast toast. A fish toasts toast.

I don't see toast as a singular collection. "The toast" could be a singular collection of toast. Toast, is simply plural for toast.
 
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DQuaN
Given that God is infinite, and that the universe is also infinite...
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daan
would you like a bagel?
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talkietoaster.jpg


Love it 👍
 
Danoff
But your "people, fish, and sheep" example is the most apt here, because that's how the word is used. If it said "a toast", then it would need to be followed by "toasts". If it said "the group of toast", it would need to be followed, as you say, by "toasts". But it says "toast" like "fish", and so it needs to be followed by "toast".

Fish toast toast. A fish toasts toast.
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Except you can't have a toast. Words like fish and sheep have plurals and singulars - you can have a fish and some fish, a sheep and some sheep. You can't have a toast and some toast, only some toast.

Toast is a collective number, rather than a plural. Like... rice (the foodstuff, rather than the car modifying culture). You can't have a rice, only some rice. You can enumerate rice and toast - five grains of rice, three pieces of toast - but you can't have five rice and three toast. Collective numbers adopt plurality in verbs.

So three pieces of toast toast toast, but toast toasts toast - as five grains of rice toast toast, but rice toasts toast.


Oddly, collective numbers are a relic of the history of English. In other, older languages they're accompanied by singulative numbers - where we have a soldier and an army, other languages have the collective number "army" and the singulative number "soldier". English has no singulative numbers.
 
Famine
Except you can't have a toast.
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Oh but you can. I hear that all the time... "I propose a toast to the bride and groom!"



I win, game over. Let's not talk about it anymore...



Ok you win. I give up. I think you're right, since it's not possible to have "a toast", but only a "piece" of toast, I'm willing to believe that "toast" may be a singular collection - in which case the image is grammatically incorrect and Omnis was not wrong (at least not once, he might have been wrong twice).

However, I'll point out that I'd have made the same mistake, and so would tons and tons of other people - so I stand behind my earlier claim that the image is funny.
 
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You can indeed toast toast. Initially you're toasting bread, but once it crosses over into the toasted stage, you are then toasting toast! :lol:
 
YellowBird23
It would definitely be hard for the little boy in the picture to eat so much amount of toast accumulated before him... :lol:
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im finding it hard to digest all the toast from this thread myself actually.
 
Agreed Tom, that picture isn't remotely related to toast.
 
^^^^ Facebook fail there is priceless... :lol:

All this talk about toast in here is making me hungry this early in the morning.... Excuse me while I go toast some toast in the toaster...
 
Danoff
Oh but you can. I hear that all the time... "I propose a toast to the bride and groom!"
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:lol: Swine

Anyway, if you'd like to subscribe to this thread,

toast-feed.jpg
 
daan
At least it was a toasted, bread related, product.

Now, how about a waffle?


Bet you go and make a GT logo piece of toast now...
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Be sure to send us that toast so we can burn it on a CD.
 
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