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OT: My poll results (usage of the word "some")

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michnittlion

Well-Known Member
Sep 3, 2003
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For those who care about this rather bizarre discussion some of us have had, I did ask my friends/family/colleagues (like I said I word), and I now have results to share.

These are the honest 100% results, and I now present them without further comment.

Question posed: "This is a yes/no question, you must answer one or the other. If there are 10 cookies on a plate, and I eat 1 of those 10 cookies, it is the correct usage of the word "some" if I make a statement of "I ate some of the cookies that were on that plate?"

Yes --- 13 out of 35. (37%)
No --- 22 out of 35. (63%)

(no, I am not among the 35 people who answered)
 
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michnittlion said:
For those who care about this rather bizarre discussion some of us have had, I did ask my friends/family/colleagues (like I said I word), and I now have results to share.
These are the honest 100% results, and I now present them without further comment.
Question posed: "This is a yes/no question, you must answer one or the other. If there are 10 cookies on a plate, and I eat 1 of those 10 cookies, it is the correct usage of the word "some" if I make a statement of "I ate some of the cookies that were on that plate?"
Yes --- 13 out of 35. (37%)
No --- 22 out of 35. (63%)
(no, I am not among the 35 people who answered)
Click to expand...
Hmmm. That was some poll. Some will be interested in the results, some will not. Perhaps some will be interested in such a poll only some of the time and some will be interested all of the time.
 
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Apparently, you've got 13 family/friends/colleagues that are idiots. Or, should I say some of your family/friends/colleagues are idiots?
 
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So how disappointed would my sons be if I told them a friend had 10 tickets for a PSU Game and that I had purchased some(1)?
 
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That's funny. My kids would kill me if I said, "Hey, I've got some cookies for snack tonight!" , gathered them around the table and ate the only cookie. Of course if it was delicious, I might say, "Boy, that was some cookie!" Before they offed me.
 
My poll results.......We will argue about anything. Okay it wasn't a poll, maybe just an observation. Football can't get here soon enough.

Can we get a few bat signals?
 
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michnittlion said:
For those who care about this rather bizarre discussion some of us have had, I did ask my friends/family/colleagues (like I said I word), and I now have results to share.

These are the honest 100% results, and I now present them without further comment.

Question posed: "This is a yes/no question, you must answer one or the other. If there are 10 cookies on a plate, and I eat 1 of those 10 cookies, it is the correct usage of the word "some" if I make a statement of "I ate some of the cookies that were on that plate?"

Yes --- 13 out of 35. (37%)
No --- 22 out of 35. (63%)

(no, I am not among the 35 people who answered)
Click to expand...

Well then. I guess it's official.
original.jpg
 
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Hmmmm, so when I ask my wife if I can have some pie, I'll get 2 pieces if she says yes. Will that work for things other than pie?:cool:
 
fairgambit said:
Hmmm. That was some poll. Some will be interested in the results, some will not.

Perhaps some will be interested in such a poll only some of the time and some will be interested all of the time.
Click to expand...

"But you can't some-erize all of the some polls one way all of the time!"

Abraham Somecan​
 
Connorpozlee said:
Apparently, you've got 13 family/friends/colleagues that are idiots. Or, should I say some of your family/friends/colleagues are idiots?
Click to expand...

Well, remember, some of my family/friends/colleagues either (a) are related to me (we have the same genes), (b) willingly spend their time with me, or (c) are forced to spend with time with me (at work).

So, my idiocy must have partially rubbed off on them (or it's genetic). :)
 
michnittlion said:
For those who care about this rather bizarre discussion some of us have had, I did ask my friends/family/colleagues (like I said I word), and I now have results to share.

These are the honest 100% results, and I now present them without further comment.

Question posed: "This is a yes/no question, you must answer one or the other. If there are 10 cookies on a plate, and I eat 1 of those 10 cookies, it is the correct usage of the word "some" if I make a statement of "I ate some of the cookies that were on that plate?"

Yes --- 13 out of 35. (37%)
No --- 22 out of 35. (63%)

(no, I am not among the 35 people who answered)
Click to expand...
In fairness to you, those who administer the LSAT agree with you too.

LSAT Quantity Terminology

One classic example of word misinterpretation occurs with “some.” As we discuss in our LSAT courses and in the LSAT Logical Reasoning Bible, “some” means “at least one, possibly all.” While most people understand the “at least one” part, it is the “possibly all” portion that surprises them. For example, if you tell your roommate that “some” of your friends are coming over to watch the game, most of us assume that means that not all of your friends are coming (otherwise, why wouldn’t you have said that all of your friends were coming?). But, logically speaking, “some” can include “all,” so in the LSAT world, it may be that all of your friends are coming over. The nice thing about “some” is that the definition is clear: always at least one, but maybe all. Other terms, such as “few,” “several,” and “many,” are more relative. Let’s examine each.
 
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PSU-Knocker said:
My poll results.......We will argue about anything. Okay it wasn't a poll, maybe just an observation. Football can't get here soon enough.

Can we get a few bat signals?
Click to expand...
So how many would a few be? Some would maybe say 4 or more. :)
 
Fayette_LION said:
One is one and some is more than one. All the time. Words do matter
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. You could get some pie or cake and get just one slice, but you have had some pie or cake. However, you cannot have some cookies and have only one. You could speak to some coach or administrator at PSU and speak to just one. However, you cannot have spoken to some coaches or administrators and have spoken to only one.
 
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marshall23 said:
So how disappointed would my sons be if I told them a friend had 10 tickets for a PSU Game and that I had purchased some(1)?
Click to expand...

LOL! That's hilarious! Reminds me of my very average looking ex-girlfriend and her three hot sisters. She said I can go camping with some of them (meaning her only).
 
I suspect you have "some" friends (37% chance its 1 and 63% chance it is two or more), while most are colleagues (cough cough ... subordinates) with others being family.
 
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mn78psu83 is right. Every logic textbook in the world interprets the word “some” to mean “at least one, maybe all”. The word identifies existential quantification. Haven’t any of you taken an elementary logic course while in college?

If you wanted to say “more than one” you would need to say “more than one."
 
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I'll settle this: I asked my wife, and she is ALWAYS right. She said "some" is more than one.

If you took one cookie, you'd say 'I took one". If you took more than one but not all, you'd say "I took some."
 
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snider said:
mn78psu83 is right. Every logic textbook in the world interprets the word “some” to mean “at least one, maybe all”. The word identifies existential quantification. Haven’t any of you taken an elementary logic course while in college?

If you wanted to say “more than one” you would need to say “more than one."
Click to expand...
existential quantifier
n
1. (Logic) logic a formal device, for which the conventional symbol is ∃, which indicates that the open sentence that follows is true of at least one member of the relevant universe of interpretation, as (∃x) Fx meaning "something is (an) F," "something Fs," or "there are (some) Fs."
 
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snider said:
mn78psu83 is right. Every logic textbook in the world interprets the word “some” to mean “at least one, maybe all”. The word identifies existential quantification. Haven’t any of you taken an elementary logic course while in college?

If you wanted to say “more than one” you would need to say “more than one."
Click to expand...

See, the "maybe all" thing is what I would find really controversial. Certainly more controversial than "perhaps one."

Although I wish I knew that as a kid.

Mom: "yes, michnittlion, you can have some of those 10 cookies."

Me: eats all 10 cookies.
 
michnittlion said:
See, the "maybe all" thing is what I would find really controversial. Certainly more controversial than "perhaps one."

Although I wish I knew that as a kid.

Mom: "yes, michnittlion, you can have some of those 10 cookies."

Me: eats all 10 cookies.
Click to expand...

That response makes a great deal more sense than if you were to have -- for example -- eaten 1/6th of a single cookie.
 
KD666 said:
Would it be proper to say "I ate some cookie (singular)"?
Click to expand...

Yes. Let's say you had one of those Danish butter cookie tins and some body asked you which cookie you ate. You would circa to say, "I'm not sure. I just grabbed some coookie from the tin."
 
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mn78psu83 said:
In fairness to you, those who administer the LSAT agree with you too.

LSAT Quantity Terminology

One classic example of word misinterpretation occurs with “some.” As we discuss in our LSAT courses and in the LSAT Logical Reasoning Bible, “some” means “at least one, possibly all.” While most people understand the “at least one” part, it is the “possibly all” portion that surprises them. For example, if you tell your roommate that “some” of your friends are coming over to watch the game, most of us assume that means that not all of your friends are coming (otherwise, why wouldn’t you have said that all of your friends were coming?). But, logically speaking, “some” can include “all,” so in the LSAT world, it may be that all of your friends are coming over. The nice thing about “some” is that the definition is clear: always at least one, but maybe all. Other terms, such as “few,” “several,” and “many,” are more relative. Let’s examine each.
Click to expand...

So the LSAT folks believe "some" can mean one. So much for the LAST and its "Logical Reasoning Bible." Fail...
 
LafayetteBear said:
So the LSAT folks believe "some" can mean one. So much for the LAST and its "Logical Reasoning Bible." Fail...
Click to expand...
It's standard logic - "existential quantification." What this points out is the difference between logic and pragmatics in the philosophy of language.
 
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"Existential quantification." Sounds like something a fraternity brother of mine might come up with after smoking a joint.
 
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Results of my poll on who thinks you're a degenerate, shameless, zero-integrity, scUM-loving BOT-bot @sskissing idiot and moron (e.g., a "poser") or a true PSU fan being genuine :

Degenerate, shameless, zero-integrity, scUM-loving BOT-bot @sskissing idiot and moron "poser":

100%

A true genuine PSU fan:

Some of none otherwise known as 0%​
 
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