100 off an item for sale?!

[Boris Johnson]

Most items usually have a proper name and a name the shoptards use.

For example, most shoptards use the name "allen wrench" when referring to a "hex key".

[T i m]

There can be a lot of crossover but again, mostly by people who don't really know their stuff.

Of course .. and that means asking for a bolt if you want a bolt or a machine screw if you want one of them. Now, it's very possibly you could use either for some roles but the 'wrong' type will always be sub optimal.

Yup, machine screw or bolt covers that one already.

Or socket, countersunk, mushroom, Allen / Torx / Other, Coach etc etc ..

That wouldn't *typically* be a machine screw or bolt, that would just be a screw.

See above. Quote that in the local fasteners place (and that's *all* they do) and you would be laughed out of the place.

A pat on the head and 'good boy'?

Quite. ;-)

Well, it wouldn't survive much further testing that's for sure but most of the fun will be in that initial WTF moment. ;-)

And the other way round:

Cheers, T i m

[FromTheRafters]

Ammunition.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Rivets

[Sam Plusnet]

Captive.

[Commander Kinsey]

It's an allen key.

[Commander Kinsey]

It's not very captive when it flies out of the gun.

[Commander Kinsey]

Neither did I, since it works just fine for me. I guess Mr Lodder has a shitty newsreader. A space and nothing else decrees the end, why would a bracket end it?

[Snidely]

College students. But not from the football team, who'd be ordering the 10-pack.

/dps

[Ken Blake]

Three orders of two tacos each, I assume. That makes six.

It doesn't seem hard to understand to me, especially with the above two lines where x clearly stands for "orders" or "order."

[RH Draney]

Try saying it to the drive-thru speaker: "I need three two tacos"...you'll get three tacos...or six...or two....r

[NY]

Why not say "I want six tacos" rather that "I want three two tacos". Or if they come in pairs, "I want three double tacos".

[Commander Kinsey]

And that explicit way is "of". Why can't you deal with "of" occurring twice in a sentence? Off means less.

[Commander Kinsey]

So 5 less than 5 teaspoons, a very poor offer.

But I agree, "off" means something is reduced or removed. It's an everyday English word, and it doesn't mean anything like "of".

Application. Or do you park your car in the gar?

[Ken Blake]

I would never say that. I can't imagine anyone saying that. I would say "Three orders of two tacos each" or if all possible tacos orders were of two each, I would simply say "three orders of tacos."

It's not necessary to say something the way they abbreviate it. I also wouldn't say "three eks two tacos."

[T i m]

But the traditional way is 'off'.

Why can't you deal with the FACT that it's done this way and for a good reason?

Off can also mean go away, as in 'F off'.

Here, now you have exhausted this particular trolling thread, how about pretending to ask about what you don't understand 'n times smaller than'?

'My farm is 6 times smaller than yours.'

Or what about those who say '6am in the morning'.

Go.

Cheers, T i m

[Chrysi Cat]

I'd also never say "three eks".

But I DO hear the "x's" in all three of those order components as "times".

Like you, though, I would say "orders of" to the order-TAKER.

[Chrysi Cat]

There IS a single surviving way of "off" for a quantity that makes sense: "One-off".

But I'd be inclined to have a problem with a NUMERAL as opposed to a written "one" followed by "off" for the same reason as you. At that point it's a reduction.

[T i m]

I have never said 'orders of' to anyone ever.

If it were a drive though or cafe / restaurant with an order taker and there was any likelihood of confusion it would be mostly done with intonation.

'Could we have three of your special please.' (We are three adults visible to the person at that time, straightforward)

'Could we have three ... Two_Tacos please'.

I would also never say 'Could we get' ... as *we* aren't getting anything, we are being brought it.

You go to the buffet to 'get' your food.

Also, some eating styles / habits can be cultural and the person taking your order may not be familiar with it.

Before we went vegan (but were mostly veggie and definitely cutting back on processed food) we used to ask for a modified version of our local Cafe's standard breakfast.

It came as standard with.

Fresh orange juice. Tea / Coffee. Two sausages, two bacon, baked beans and one egg. Two rounds of toast. All for £6 or so (fast, fresh, hot, perfect every time).

We would ask for decaf tea and that (on both meals), we swapped one of the bacon rashers for some mushrooms and one of the sausages for some tomato (either type). Some servers initially try to take it as a 'build it yourself' meal but that would generally be more expensive than tweaking their set meal.

We thought doing so should be cheaper for them and more variety / better health for us. The manager was more than happy to accommodate us and the regular waiting staff knew the deal. 'Usual's please'.

But even at the beginning we would place our order with ... "We would like ... two of your standard breakfasts please with decaf tea and would it be possible to swap one of the sausages for some mushrooms and one of the bacon for tomato, on both please?

In the first instance they checked with the boss that was ok and it's generally been fine ever after. The only time it becomes a slight issue if they have new staff and they don't speak very good English and some of it get's lost in translation. We can normally sort something out between us if they say, they only applied the substitutions to one meal.

With drive-thru's it helps to 1) know what you are (all) going to have before you get there and 2) try to present them in the form / terms they use themselves.

'Two Rebel Whopper meals ... no mayo on either and both with orange juice please...'

Cheers, T i m

[Richard]

These guys seem to be Americans, which tends to muddy the waters by several orders of magnitude.