Cut a cake in two

Dingbat

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Nov 6, 2023, 10:50:28 PM11/6/23

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Subject: Cut a cake in two

It's cut a cake in half in US English.
Multiple eastpondian headlines report:

Israel severs Gaza in two
<https://www.google.com/search?q=israel+severs+gaza+in+two>

I haven't found that translated to US English.
What would the translation be?
'Israel severs Gaza in half'?

Snidely

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Nov 7, 2023, 3:08:04 AM11/7/23

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Dingbat submitted this idea :

"Israel splits Gaza in two"

/dps

--
https://xkcd.com/2704

Hibou

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Nov 7, 2023, 3:19:58 AM11/7/23

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After doing the splits, one may need splints.

Ross Clark

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Nov 7, 2023, 3:47:29 AM11/7/23

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I don't find the trans-pondian difference.
Both exist on both sides, and they aren't synonyms.
"in two" simply counts the resultant pieces.
"in half" adds that they are of roughly equal size.

Personally, I don't like either much with "sever".
I prefer just "sever X" (severed the rail link), or "sever X from Y" (in
the present case "severed the north from the south").

Dingbat

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Nov 7, 2023, 4:54:18 AM11/7/23

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On Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 2:17:29 PM UTC+5:30, Ross Clark wrote:
> On 7/11/2023 4:50 p.m., Dingbat wrote:
> > Subject: Cut a cake in two
> >
> > It's cut a cake in half in US English.
> > Multiple eastpondian headlines report:
> >
> > Israel severs Gaza in two
> > <https://www.google.com/search?q=israel+severs+gaza+in+two>
> >
> > I haven't found that translated to US English.
> > What would the translation be?
> > 'Israel severs Gaza in half'?
> I don't find the trans-pondian difference.
> Both exist on both sides, and they aren't synonyms.
>

Per my English teachers, the British usage is 'cut into halves', not 'cut in half'

>
> "in two" simply counts the resultant pieces.
> "in half" adds that they are of roughly equal size.
>
> Personally, I don't like either much with "sever".
> I prefer just "sever X" (severed the rail link), or "sever X from Y" (in
> the present case "severed the north from the south").
>

I prefer 'sunder'; it would make the headline shorter.

Bertel Lund Hansen

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Nov 7, 2023, 5:10:36 AM11/7/23

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Dingbat wrote:

> Subject: Cut a cake in two
>
> It's cut a cake in half in US English.
> Multiple eastpondian headlines report:
>
> Israel severs Gaza in two
> <https://www.google.com/search?q=israel+severs+gaza+in+two>

An Ngram with "cake in half,cake in two" shows that "in half" didn't get
the upper hand until 1965.

cake in half:eng_gb_2019,cake in two:eng_gb_2019,
cake in half:eng_us_2019,cake in two:eng_us_2019
(on one line)

doesn't show any significant pondian difference.

--
Bertel, Denmark

Bertel Lund Hansen

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Nov 7, 2023, 5:14:46 AM11/7/23

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Dingbat wrote:

>> I don't find the trans-pondian difference.
>> Both exist on both sides, and they aren't synonyms.
>>
> Per my English teachers, the British usage is 'cut into halves', not 'cut in half'

In an Ngram with "cake in half:eng_gb_2019,cake into halves:eng_gb_2019"
"half" drowns out "halves". It doesn't help to use "to" instead of
"into".

--
Bertel, Denmark

Chris Elvidge

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Nov 7, 2023, 5:56:47 AM11/7/23

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On 07/11/2023 09:54, Dingbat wrote:
> On Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 2:17:29 PM UTC+5:30, Ross Clark wrote:
>> On 7/11/2023 4:50 p.m., Dingbat wrote:
>>> Subject: Cut a cake in two
>>>
>>> It's cut a cake in half in US English.
>>> Multiple eastpondian headlines report:
>>>
>>> Israel severs Gaza in two
>>> <https://www.google.com/search?q=israel+severs+gaza+in+two>
>>>
>>> I haven't found that translated to US English.
>>> What would the translation be?
>>> 'Israel severs Gaza in half'?
>> I don't find the trans-pondian difference.
>> Both exist on both sides, and they aren't synonyms.
>>
> Per my English teachers, the British usage is 'cut into halves', not 'cut in half'

Depends on whether you're using 'gramatical' or common parlance. Cut in
half is really OK.

>>
>> "in two" simply counts the resultant pieces.
>> "in half" adds that they are of roughly equal size.
>>
>> Personally, I don't like either much with "sever".
>> I prefer just "sever X" (severed the rail link), or "sever X from Y" (in
>> the present case "severed the north from the south").

Sever - cut a bond between articles
Sunder - break an article into parts

So very similar, but sunder is perhaps more severe.

>>
> I prefer 'sunder'; it would make the headline shorter.
>

--
Chris Elvidge, England
RUDOLPH'S RED NOSE IS NOT ALCOHOL-RELATED

S K

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Nov 7, 2023, 6:54:00 AM11/7/23

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"pond" is a gay idiom among goras.

using it won't make you gora.