Having unearthed this (small) can of worms I feel compelled to step in again with the thought that even if logic would have the phrase to signify : any store built from bricks and mortar, the compound phrase should indeed be 'a brick-and-mortar' store, leaving the reader to figure out from the context whether it's a street store in general or a specialized store dealing in building materials. What I was questioning initially was the -s affixed to the word 'mortar' which from a building perspective is less logical than attaching it to 'brick'. Thus the term : a 'bricks-and-mortar' store doesn't really make me squirm, as the other one did. However I'm only half British, so probably half wrong (or right?).
-----Message d'origine----- De : [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]De la part de Mark D. Lew Envoye : lundi 23 septembre 2002 02:41 A : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Objet : Re: [Finale] TAN "brick and mortar" (was Re: Finale Dealers) >Except that a "brick and mortar" store is not a store that *sells* bricks >and mortar -- it's a store that's *made of* bricks and mortar. (As opposed >to an online store, which may exist only in cyberspace.) Whoops, my faux-pas. I completely misunderstood the term. Still, isn't the logic exactly the same? If a house is made of bricks, we call it a "brick house", not a "bricks house". Why should it be any different for a "brick-and-mortar store"? mdl _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
