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Oh wait, I've seen this before. There is a term that describes this type of usage but I forgot what it was. It's similar to a statement like "You should not have so much meat in your diet" in that the word meat is taken to mean a general plural term. So in the sense of "sun and cloud", the meteorologist might just mean a general sense of cloudiness as opposed to multiple clouds.
Speaking of cloud(s), can anyone please explain to me the difference between "partly cloudy" and "partly sunny?" Aren't they the same thing?
I think the main difference is that partly sunny can only occur in the daytime when the sun may be visible in the sky between sunrise and sunset but partly cloudy can occur at any moment in time within a 24 hour period.
Speaking of cloud(s), can anyone please explain to me the difference between "partly cloudy" and "partly sunny?" Aren't they the same thing?
The way I've always interpreted that was that " partly cloudy " means mainly sunshine with some cloud, and
"Partly sunny" means mainly cloudy with some sunshine.
Here's a weird one that I think flies under the radar linguistically. I am American. Whenever I hear a Canadian weather person talk about clouds, they refer to it in a singular, uncountable noun "cloud" in the same manner as "fog", whereas in American English, we would use "clouds" with an s. Im assuming this Canadian usage is the same as UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc. I know it seems minor but it sticks out to me whenever I see/hear it in Canadian media. Is "clouds" even a word in Canadian English? One of those tiny details that seem to go unnoticed.
There's no such thing as "Commonwealth English" or common pronunciation and vocabulary across English speaking countries outside the US.
Here's a weird one that I think flies under the radar linguistically. I am American. Whenever I hear a Canadian weather person talk about clouds, they refer to it in a singular, uncountable noun "cloud" in the same manner as "fog", whereas in American English, we would use "clouds" with an s. Im assuming this Canadian usage is the same as UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc. I know it seems minor but it sticks out to me whenever I see/hear it in Canadian media. Is "clouds" even a word in Canadian English? One of those tiny details that seem to go unnoticed.
In more formal contexts, though, people tend not to find the communication glitches and drop-outs so amusing.
Yes, I know. Thats why I asked on the Canada board, as opposed to the United Kingdom. I was wondering if this was unique to Canada. I referred to this as "Commonwealth English" because Commonwealth countries tend to follow British usage in varying degrees, vs. American. In Canada's case the spelling but not all of it, but with North American pronunciation but again not everywhere (e.g., Newfoundland English). I know each dialect is different and unique.
Oh wait, I've seen this before. There is a term that describes this type of usage but I forgot what it was. It's similar to a statement like "You should not have so much meat in your diet" in that the word meat is taken to mean a general plural term. So in the sense of "sun and cloud", the meteorologist might just mean a general sense of cloudiness as opposed to multiple clouds.
This is what I mean.
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