One's dismayed.

[Catsize]

One's = acceptable.

Ones = totally flamin' incorrect.

How may times do we hear 'those ones', these ones', 'blue ones' etc.?

Aaaagggghhhhh!

[morethanacondiment]

I'm confused. Do you mean one as a pronoun (as in your thread title) or as a noun?

[runningonwillpower]

I think you are confusing the possessive with the plural.

It is possible to have a plural of one. For example, loved ones.

[AgentProvocateur]

Those ones, blue ones etc are right. It's being used as a plural noun.

[holmessweetholmes]

Those examples are perfectly correct - totally agree with other posters.

[Catsize]

Not confusing them, but was just having a little play.
'These ones' and 'those ones' are not correct. 'These' and 'those' stand as the plurals of 'this' and 'that'.
Just did a spot of extremely scientific Google research to check I am not completely barking.

[Catsize]

Entirely possible it is just 'those ones' and 'these ones' that are incorrect. And also concede it is something I was unaware of for many years.

[Catsize]

Or rather 'of which I was unaware'.

[AgentProvocateur]

Even if these and those are the plurals of this and that, "those ones" is still correct. You wouldn't say "those cat" or "those cat's", would you? Unless you're barking.

[prism]

So what do you think about "this one", Catsize? I do take your point about "those ones" etc, but I think life without every saying "this one" or "that one" might be a bit tricky.

[prism]

Or even "ever saying". Duh.

[Squeegle]

Why wouldn't you say those ones over there?
Which ones do you mean?
Ah... Those ones

[Squeegle]

I don't understand how you would say for eg:

"Which smarties don't you like?"

"I don't like the blue ones"

[Primrose123]

I think that 'these ones' and 'those ones' are incorrect, but 'the blue ones' is ok.

[Squeegle]

Hmmm, have just done a bit of googling myself and I see what you're saying. But... I'm not sure these are really examples worth getting that bothered about. Sacrilegious, I know, on this august board, but really, is it worth worrying about? Language evolves constantly, and those are in very common usage now.

[Catsize]

Interesting, isn't it?
I understand that the distinction between 'ones' and 'cats' would be that you can have more than one cat, but more than one 'one' becomes 'two, three, four' etc. That is what I was told when I first made the 'those ones' faux pas. For that reason, prism, I think 'this one' and 'that one' are okay, albeit the 'one' is superfluous.

[Katisha]

If its any consolation OP, DH tells me off for saying " those ones". Doesn't stop me though.

[prism]

I wonder if this happens because "that" is a multi-purpose word, in English. If you say "I know that I am going to the cinema tomorrow" and "I am going to that cinema", the meaning of "that" is quite different each time. So we tend to say "that one" to make it clear which kind of "that" we are talking about, rather than just leave it in the air waiting for context to fill in the gap. And from there it's a small step to "those ones".

[Fideliney]

Eh?

[Fideliney]

Is it a test to see who is still compos mentis?

[holmessweetholmes]

Hmm - I'm beginning to see what you mean now. But Catsize - how would you get around it if you wanted to say 'blue ones' then? I realise you can (and perhaps should) just say 'these' and 'those' instead of 'these ones' and 'those ones', but that doesn't work with a normal adjective like 'blue'.

Also, it's not just an issue of plurals, is it? Saying 'this one' is just as superfluous, as you can just say 'this'. Food for thought...

[Catsize]

holmes, that is what I said (I think!) - the 'one' is superfluous in 'this one' etc.
TeamEdward answered the Smarties-related question.
So, another 'blue ones' answer...
Q. Which shoes do you prefer?
A. The blue/the blue shoes.

Q. What colour shoes do you prefer?
A. Blue.

[ohmymimi]

Well, lah dee dah, a (possible) grammatical faux pas that does not twist my melons. . Does this mean banishment from PC?