universal grinder
universal grinder · universal grinders
A notional mechanism whereby countable nouns are made uncountableA notional mechanism whereby countable nouns are made uncountable.
UK/ˌjuːnɪˌvɜːsl̩ ˈɡɹaɪndə/US/ˌjunəˌvɜɹs(ə)l ˈɡɹaɪndəɹ/
Meaning
1 sensesA notional mechanism whereby countable nouns are made uncountable.
Origin
From universal + grinder, from the idea that an object that is countable can generally beFrom universal + grinder, from the idea that an object that is countable can generally be turned uncountable if put into an imaginary grinder and reduced to a mass of small pieces. The term was first used in print in a 1975 journal article by the American linguist and philosopher Francis Jeffry Pelletier (born 1944), after a suggestion of the American philosopher David Kellogg Lewis (1941–2001): see the quotation.
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Forms
plural: universal grinders| Singular | universal grinder |
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| Plural | universal grinders |
regular