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Comment by Archelaos | Hacker News Reader

That "Peter Pan" is permanently copyrighted in the UK is just an eccentricity. I might even like the Brits precisely because of their eccentricity. The reason I do not like copyright law is not because of its eccentric, but because of its normal rules with far too long protection periods.

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>I might even like the Brits precisely because of their eccentricity.

Eccentricities: plural. Thanks for the kind thoughts, though.

> Adjective. deviating from the recognized or customary character, practice, etc.; irregular; erratic; peculiar; odd

Perfectly valid usage.

While you are correct that "eccentricity" as an adjective is a correct usage, OP used it as a singular noun in the preceding sentence, making it ambiguous whether they are appreciating the British for their eccentricities, or for the particular mentioned eccentricity.

If OP's intended meaning matches the adjective as you describe, then it would be clearer communication to use "eccentricity" in this context.

It's not really ambiguous at all, unless one is being pedantic. "I like the Brits because of their eccentricity" is perfectly normal English, referring to their overall quality of being eccentric.

The sentence before it with “an”

You can technically read it that way, but that's not how I think most native speakers would read it.

If you like us for our eccentricity, you'll love us for our pedantry

> OP used it as a singular noun

Is that the case? Reads as a possessive adjective to me. The OP likes the Brits because of the characteristic that they possesse.

Nevermind, as someone else pointed out, it is used as a noun. Still, it's the correct usage in the possessive context.

That seems to be “eccentric” not “eccentricity” (your failure to cite the source of the quoted definition makes it harder to tell, but it is almost verbatim the M-W definition of “eccentric”.)

(Eccentricity, the noun used, is just fine with “the British” if onenis referring to the collective manner in which they are eccentric, the plural “eccentricities” would be appropriate if one was referring to the diversity of particular manners in which they were eccentric.)

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eccentric

> eccentric - 1 of 2 - adjective

Edit: Ah, I misunderstood your comment, my bad! Yea, I quoted the adjective definition, but the original comment is still using the word correctly.

Agreed; it only took damn-near a century after the author’s death for the copyrights to (mostly) expire.

The supporters of copyright fear monger and present a parade of horribles that will flow if excessive copyright isn’t allowed. (Folks will “abuse” the Mickey Mouse character via pornography, etc).

But I think history has, and will continue to, prove out that these are BS and that it’s all just a cash grab.

The American colonies fought a war to escape such eccentricities like unequal protection under law.

Peter Pan fought Captain Hook for the same reason.

America's story: "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!"

> That "Peter Pan" is permanently copyrighted in the UK is just an eccentricity.

'is just eccentricity' no article

it's an adjective after all

"Eccentricity" is a noun, not an adjective. "Eccentric" is the adjectival form.

It had taken a new meaning I think, “an eccentricity” is, like, a single eccentric action or trait.

No need to do a pedantry.

All three of these are valid:

1. X is just an eccentricity --> Noun (countable)

2. X is just eccentricity --> Noun (uncountable)

3. X is just eccentric --> Adjective

For (2) see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_noun

(1) is probably the best in context here, i.e. "an eccentricity of the UK legal system"

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