100 off an item for sale?!

[T i m]

Oh, because *you* told me ...

Oh, you really don't know ...

Of course it does, when it works well.

The fact that you wouldn't use it .

And you would be considered a noob at the hardware shop.

'of them' FFS! ;-)

The point is that M6 x 1.5 x 25 x 30 mixes the quantity with the dimensions and could be misread.

M6 x 1.5 x 25 x 30 off can't be, oh, and we don't care if you don't like, understand or want to use that, loads of people will and do,

*because* it makes sense.

Until you are picking a huge list ...

Yes, to you, we have established that.

Some but not all it seems?

I'll have another lager thanks! ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

It can with the use of off

To you.

And?

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

Not *more* stuff you (supposedly) don't have a clue about ... ;-(

If you use the term 'screw' with nut you are shortening the term 'machine screw' (threaded all the way up) and use in difference to a bolt (only threaded part way up).

Now, no one cares if you don't like or don't understand those descriptions ...

You are Crazy Jim and I claim my £5! ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[RH Draney]

Can you explain its meaning in the notice "we cook off our potatoes"?...r

[gopalansampath]

Exactly, the sale of item implies in lots of 100 !

[jon]

number-of-or-quantity-of

'off' It means to be separated, hence 200 off means 200 separate items.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa)]

Why not simply say 100 and that is it, maybe call it 1 box of 100 or whatever. So many issues have occurred in the past with quantaties, like 1 pack triple ply toilet rolls. Pack of ten, only to find each pack has 6 in it, and suddenly your house has a slightly lower volume than before but very good acoustics, and a novel wall covering. Brian

[Chris Green]

It was (still is?) pretty standard wording on 'business' invoices and orders for lists of small items:-

10 off Green Widgets at 5p per widget 0.50 5 off Blue Thinges at 9p per widget 0.45

I think the intent was to make it absolutely clear that the '10 off' and '5 off' are quantities. In particular you might get something like:-

5 off Packet of 5 teaspoons at 57p per packet

Back in 'the old days' many businesses wouldn't have pre-printed order forms etc. with a 'Quantity' column and so orders were typed out on plain paper which necessitated some very explicit way of giving quantities.

[RH Draney]

I'd still be inclined to read it as a discount....

When I'm picking up food orders, the delivery app lists multiple quantities of items as:

3x Large French Fries 1x Double Cheese Burger 3x Two Tacos (that's a quirk of the Jack-in-the-Box menu that ensures that almost nobody will get the number of tacos they actually intended to order)

....r

[T i m]

But those aren't good examples of things with (potentially many) other numerical components are they (as in the engineering world).

M6 x 1.5 x 25 hex (100 off) would be more typical of it's usage.

Cheers, T i m

[soup]

Not necessarily, 'Machine screws' can have nuts .

[Ed Pawlowski]

I've heard the term used over the years to denote how things are packaged. Perhaps as they came off the machine? 100 off, 50 off, etc.

[Commander Kinsey]

I'd forgotten about those. So is it only a bolt if it has a hex end?

On that note, my neighbour calls screws "screw nails". WTF is that about? Reminds me of an elderly man I knew as a kid who put woodscrews in with a hammer. When I questioned it he said the screwdriver was for removing them.

[charles]

no, a bolt only has a short thread at one end.

" A Birmingham screwdriver"

[Sam Plusnet]

I have seen people 'start' screws with a hammer, then follow that up with a (powered) screwdriver.

[Commander Kinsey]

Nah, I've never met anyone who wouldn't call this a bolt:

This guy was Scottish.

[Commander Kinsey]

This guy hammered them all the way in. And I don't think he had powered screwdrivers. He was one of those "use your own strength" people, despite being about 90. The only electrical things in his property I ever saw were a telephone, a small television, and a pump to get water from a well (no mains water there).

[T i m]

It depends who you are talking to. If I was asking you to get a M6 x

25 machine screw and realised how ignorant of such things you are I'd use whatever term was most likely to get you to fetch the right thing. [1]

If I was up the local fasteners supplier I'd ask for it by it's correct name, a machine screw.

Cheers, T i m

[1] I had a 'rescue' whippet-terrier cross from about 6 months old and she was very bright. She would 'fetch' a range of things and only needed telling once (so one up on you!). ;-)

I wanted to leave a 10mm spanner somewhere and when I was working on a motorbike and a mate came round, get her to 'go get the 10mm ring spanner' and have her trot off and return with one. ;-)

[Commander Kinsey]

Your link just proved to me there's no "correct" terminology. You need to ask for precisely what you need. Does the thread go all the way up? Is it hex or pozi on the end? Is it self tapping?

"There is no universally accepted distinction between a screw and a bolt."

Depends what reward I get.

That would have caused a WTF!? moment. Although if I was your mate I would have said, "Hang on I think I need a 12mm...."

[RH Draney]

What if it's a carriage bolt?...

And what do you call those bolts that have no threading at all?...r