MSGID: 1:153/716.0 21da48e2   
   REPLY: 1:3634/12.73 6213566a   
   CHRS: IBMPC 2   
   Hi, Mark!  Recently you wrote in a message to Alexander Koryagin:   
      
   AK>  Why "flu season" without "a" article?   
      
   ml>  because it covers all flues... not just a specific one    
   ml>  (the) or any one (a)...   
      
      
             Yes, there are usually many different varieties in circulation...   
   and for those who prepare the vaccines it's not easy to be sure in advance   
   which of them will be most troublesome during the next fall/winter/spring flu   
   season.   
      
      
             At times people say they have the flu, but in most such cases I   
   think they're assuming it's whichever variety is currently prevalent where   
   they live. Either way we can use "the" without fretting about whether the   
   article modifies only the word immediately it after it or the entire kit &   
   kaboodle.  While some may choose to drop "the" in "flu" or "flu season", I   
   can't think of a situation which would justify using "a" without doing quite a   
   bit of rewording.  :-)   
      
      
             Doing even more fine tuning, however:  when we say "flu" or "'flu"   
   we are using a colloquial variation of "influenza"... a "flue" is typically a   
   pipe or other enclosure which e.g. directs the flow of smoke in a chimney:   
      
                 A flea and a fly in a flue   
                 Were imprisoned, so what could they do?   
                 Said the flea, "Let us fly"...   
                 Said the fly, "Let us flee"...   
                 So they flew through a hole in the flue.   
      
                                          -- traditional nursery rhyme   
      
      
   While I do realize it's not great poetry, it's what I grew up on.  But for   
   most people here what matters is that if their dictionary doesn't list the   
   plural of xxx I think it's safe to assume that all they need to do is add an   
   "s"....  :-)   
      
      
      
   ml>  Look on my majesty, ye mighty, and despair! Or bring    
   ml>  me catnip.   
      
      
             I reckon you've had some experience with cats.  What I'd like to   
   know is why... if, as scientists tell us, they can't see colours... why they   
   seem to be quite selective about which balls from the Xmas tree they'll play   
   with.  :-Q   
            
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
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