OK, I'll bite.
You are both at least partially correct, but you are talking about different
animals.
In the phrase "fifty cents" 'cents' is a plural noun, just as 'dollars' in
"worth fifty dollars".
In the phrase "fifty cent stamp" 'fifty cent' is adjectival, describing the
stamp, just as 'fifty dollar' dscribes the bill in "fifty dollar bill".
As to whether the plural of 'penny' is 'pennies' or 'pence' - I think it is
a question of context. A defined number of them would require 'pence',
whereas an indeterminate amount, or a context in which you emphasise that
there aren't many of them, or emphasise the coins themselves rather than
their worth, would require 'pennies'. "I had thirty five pence to spend"
compared to "I had barely two pennies to rub together"
But cent as the plural of cent? Not over here! But then, we don't have any
cents over here.
HTH!
--
Piers
-----Original Message-----
From: olympus-owner@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:olympus-owner@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Moose
Sent: 24 November 2004 10:31
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [OM] Re: Flash Q and minor rant
Andrew Fildes wrote:
>As the convention (I checked with all of them by phone) is that the
>plural of cent is cent - as in fifty cent stamp - then the possessive
>is cent's. No?
>Sheepishly,
>
At least here in the states, there are still a few things that cost 50
cents, such as the stamp you mention. If I pay for one with a dollar, my
change is 50 cents. A fifty dollar bill is by definition worth fifty
dollars. I'll leave it to a language scholar to define the difference
between the two forms of usage.
Moose
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