Erika
Is "take two aspirin" correct? Can I say "take two aspirins" too? (Side note: did you know taking two aspirin can ease the pain of heartbreak??)
Oct 31, 2014 10:04 AM
Answers · 20
3
Either is correct.
October 31, 2014
2
Take two aspirins - take two tablets that contain the chemical referred to as aspirin Take two aspirin - take the chemical referred to as aspirin as contained in two tablets
October 31, 2014
2
I don't think you mean "heartbreak" - I think you mean "heart failure" because it thins the blood. :-) It is known medically to help with people who have a heart condition, but Asprin doesn't help if you lose your boyfriend!
October 31, 2014
1
I don't how how much credence to give it, but Erika is referring to legitimate research that has been getting a lot of press lately. Probably too much press. One article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/social-analgesics/ The idea is that emotional pain actually is processed in the same parts of the brain and in the same way as physical pain, and, if so, analgesics--the study actually used acetominophen = Tylenol, NOT aspirin--might ease the pain of social rejection. "In one part of the study, published in the July Psychological Science, participants reported feelings of rejection on questionnaires. In another part, they played a computer game in which they were progressively excluded from a virtual ball-passing group as time elapsed. Brain imaging revealed that the Tylenol-gobbling group appeared to experience fewer feelings of rejection than those who received a placebo did." That seems pretty limited, and because of the aspirin-heart connection and the catchy concept of "aspirin for heartache" it's getting more attention that it deserves. If this is the next health fad it seems pretty harmless. You don't suppose the Bayer company is..... :)
October 31, 2014
1
I am a native U.S. speaker, and either sounds perfectly correct. I'm going to see what a Google Books search shows me, regarding the forms with and without the "s," by searching on the catchphrase "Take two aspirin(s) and call me in the morning," the reply doctors supposedly gave if you called them in the evening with something unimportant. Book title: "Take Two Aspirins, But Don't Call Me in the Morning" “Take two aspirins and call me in the morning. You'll feel much better.”--2007 book on "Applying Helping Skills" "Even when your doctor responds to your night time phone call by saying 'Take two aspirins and call me in the morning,' he or she implicitly invites a follow-up if things aren't going well."--Psychiatry on Trial: Fact and Fantasy in the Courtroom --- ''Take two aspirin and call me in the morning,' may not be as innocuous as it sounds"--1985, Vegetarian Times "Kelvey's solution was like the old medical dogma of 'take two aspirin and call me in the morning'--2010 novel "The advice to 'Take two aspirin and call me in the morning' has been repeated so often that most people think one aspirin is only half a dose."--Arthritis: What Really Works, 2012 But I don't know WHY both are correct! I think the reason why is that "aspirin" can be either a mass noun ("a bottle of aspirin," "81 mg. of aspirin," "anti-coagulant effect of aspirin") or a regular countable noun. In the countable noun I think it is mentally an abbreviation for "aspirin tablet." The following sentence is awkwardly worded but if I say it aloud to myself, it makes sense and sounds to me like correct grammar and usage: "At Costco, a bottle of aspirin costs $X, but it's too large for my family; we would never use 500 aspirins before the expiration date."
October 31, 2014
Show more
Still haven’t found your answers?
Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!