Page 2 | The fashion for "fruits".

PadstowGirl · 2024-08-24T20:37:13+00:00

I see this written a lot. Surely it's just fruit?

Biggirlnow · 24/08/2024 23:47

I'd say the fruits of your labour

I think fruits is acceptable if talking about specific various types of fruit. It's not a hill I'd die on. Unlike the infuriating use of "the data are" vs "the data is".

GoldPlayer · 24/08/2024 23:39

"Fruit" is a collective noun, so it doesn’t need an "s" when you're talking about multiple pieces of different types of fruit. Some people add the "s" because maybe they think it sounds cute, it isn't

TurqoiseJasper · 24/08/2024 23:36

Fruit, fruit, fruits, god that looks really weird.

Froo-it. Better.

cheesypinwheel · 24/08/2024 23:08

I'm slightly over-invested in this now.

Isn't it like cheese, in that you use fruit as a collective, uncountable noun (even though you can count fruit...) to refer to a quantity- unless you actually ARE counting them. So you'd always use cheese for singular and plural, unless you're counting the cheese (the cheese board contained three different cheeses). So you only add s/es when you're counting the object concerned. But if there's an uncounted quantity, you'd just use the singular. 'That's a lot of cheese!'

poetryandwine · 24/08/2024 23:07

Sausagesforteatoday · 24/08/2024 22:32

I’m with you on all of the above. I think fruits and meats are Americanisms. Have recently had an Australian guest who would offer to ‘pass the fruits’ , ie offer round the fruit bowl.

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There is a pub, now a gastropub, on the outskirts of Oxford called The Fishes. I don’t know how far it (or the former building that housed it) goes back, but Oscar Wilde reportedly drank there frequently.

Are fishes somehow different from fruits abd meats?

Screamingabdabz · 24/08/2024 23:07

Fruit is a plural and includes variety so YANBU.

It’s another weird import like ‘veggies’ as a pp said instead of just veg. I just stick to the boring old fashioned way just to subvert this fashion for the watering down of British English.

GrouchyKiwi · 24/08/2024 23:04

I agree with PP that it should only be used when you're talking about multiple different kinds of fruit, and want to highlight that there are different kinds.

I see it as similar usage to "peoples". There are very particular circumstances when it's grammatically correct to say "peoples", and it's the same for fruits.

PyongyangKipperbang · 24/08/2024 23:04

cheesypinwheel · 24/08/2024 22:57

Ah, now I'm not so sure. Maybe you would say five fruit.

I would say "the fruit salad contains five different types of fruit".

I would only say fruits if it was fruit's, as in the "the fruit's skin was mottled"

Am I the only one who thinks that "Fruit" sounds weird now and doesnt look right either?! It's become one of "those" words!!

JustJoinedRightNow · 24/08/2024 23:00

Definitely say fruit for plural - a PP mentioned an Australian guest saying "fruits" - I'm Australian and the only time I ever heard someone say fruits was a south Asian colleague at work, she used to say fruits and vegetables. Just jarred and didn't seem right

onthisoccasion · 24/08/2024 22:58

I'd say "fruit" for the plural too...but now doubting myself after recalling "fruits of the forest", so I think it's context dependent

cheesypinwheel · 24/08/2024 22:57

Ah, now I'm not so sure. Maybe you would say five fruit.

cheesypinwheel · 24/08/2024 22:55

Doesn't it depend whether you're counting the fruit? So for example, 'I love fruit' makes sense because you're referring to fruit in general (not sure if I'm making sense here. But you wouldn't say 'the fruit salad contains five fruit', you'd say fruits. I agree that in most cases, it should just be fruit.

I think it's more common in US English to refer to things in the plural. Like sport- Americans always say sports, whereas it's more common in UK English to only use the plural if we were counting them- 'I play two sports: curling and badminton.'

5128gap · 24/08/2024 22:51

PyongyangKipperbang · 24/08/2024 22:42

And "a red lip" .....wtf is wrong with saying I am wearing tan trousers, silver sandals and red lipstick?! Leaving aside the fact that you would look like you got dressed in the dark obviously!

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Oh I don't know, with a smokey eye you could maybe carry it off. 😁

KerryBlues · 24/08/2024 22:50

Brefugee · 24/08/2024 21:38

well a pear is a piece of fruit. and many pairs are fruit.

But an apple, 2 pears, 3 strawberries, 4 plums and 5 oranges are fruits because they are all different varieties of fruit.

Different varieties of fruit are still fruit.

OddityOddityOdd · 24/08/2024 22:50

A sheep is a sheep. A flock of sheep are sheep. If there are different breeds of sheep in a flock, do they then become sheeps ?

cupcaske123 · 24/08/2024 22:49

Uncountable noun.

Zerogiven · 24/08/2024 22:48

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Notmollybutdolly · 24/08/2024 22:48

My in laws who are South Asian say fruits, as in ‘are you feeding him yoghurt and fruits?’

Biffbaff · 24/08/2024 22:43

Can I just say how much I detest the way "veggies" is now being used as an acceptable synonym for "vegetables". It used to mean a vegetarian.

PyongyangKipperbang · 24/08/2024 22:42

5128gap · 24/08/2024 22:14

I think its fruit. I also think its meat not meats. But then I still say 'with silver sandals' rather than 'with a silver sandal' and refer to trousers in the plural rather than as a 'tan trouser' so what do I know.

And "a red lip" .....wtf is wrong with saying I am wearing tan trousers, silver sandals and red lipstick?! Leaving aside the fact that you would look like you got dressed in the dark obviously!

Yuckyyuckyuckity · 24/08/2024 22:41

Bit irrelevant but I really hate the word fruit lol.

Loloj · 24/08/2024 22:39

Anyone else now questioning the spelling of the word fruit?!!

Butteredtoast55 · 24/08/2024 22:36

I've now seen fruit written down too many times and it looks weird 😁

Sausagesforteatoday · 24/08/2024 22:32

5128gap · 24/08/2024 22:14

I think its fruit. I also think its meat not meats. But then I still say 'with silver sandals' rather than 'with a silver sandal' and refer to trousers in the plural rather than as a 'tan trouser' so what do I know.

I’m with you on all of the above. I think fruits and meats are Americanisms. Have recently had an Australian guest who would offer to ‘pass the fruits’ , ie offer round the fruit bowl.

5128gap · 24/08/2024 22:14

I think its fruit. I also think its meat not meats. But then I still say 'with silver sandals' rather than 'with a silver sandal' and refer to trousers in the plural rather than as a 'tan trouser' so what do I know.