Re: ngettext() not enough?

[John.Cowan]

Andreas Schwab scripsit:

> IMHO (I'm not a native speaker) "1.0 degrees" is correct if you pronounce
> it like "one point zero degrees", just like you would say "zero degrees",
> not "zero degree".

That's seductive but problematic:  by the same token, we would say "zero point
one degree".  There's a kind of false agreement that often appears in unedited
or poorly edited English text, whereby the verb agrees in number with the
nearest noun, even if it is not the subject:  "the problem with having a lot
of books are the number of bookshelves you need", e.g.

-- 
The Imperials are decadent, 300 pound   John Cowan <address@hidden>
free-range chickens (except they have   http://www.reutershealth.com
teeth, arms instead of wings, and       http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
dinosaurlike tails).                        --Elyse Grasso