Bowlsful/ bowlfuls

Well, Bowlsful sounds correct to me.
Bowlfuls doesn’t seem to trip off the tongue, somehow. I suppose language is always evolving, though.

My spell check and Britannica Dictionary give the plural of bowlful as bowlfuls, but I do think that it's more common to say bowlsful.

And Granmarie, I started singing that rhyme in my head as well!

As for the weekend, I would say 'on the weekend' the same as you would say 'on Saturday and Sunday'.

It's quite a famous quote Justwidowed

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

You were correct -bowlsful .

I don't want to be pedantic , but I would have written :
he drank three bowlsful of soup .

ThanksSmileless but to me they have different meanings. Mouths full suggests three mouths belonging to three different people eg they spoke with their mouths full.😄

I'd say mouths full if it was more than one mouth and mouthful if one mouth Greenfinch.

But would you say mouthsful? Surely it is mouthfuls.
MaizieD I was always taught it was all right and not alright and I always keep to that.

Bowlsful is historically correct but English is a living language so bowlfuls may come to be the correct answer in due course.

MaizieD I always write 'all right' rather than 'al.....' (nearly caught myself out there!); but I accept that language has changed. I don't say 'right now' instead of 'now', but also accept the change. My 100 year old mother visibly shudders on hearing it though!

I don't usually split an infinitive either, but know that that is very old fashioned nowadays.

Bowlsful... I base my answer on the precedent of
Yes, sir! Yes, sir! Three bags full.
From BaaBaa Black Sheep 🐑 🤣

BlueBelle

Bowlfuls for me or ‘three bowls full’

That’s it. Defo.

Could it depend on context? Is there such a thing as a bowlful, like a teaspoonful, to denote a measure of quantity (pl. bowlfuls)? Or are we talking about dishing out cereal to a number of people at breakfast (pl. bowlsful)?

Two problems with this. 1. Have I got them the right way round. 2. Would it ever be possible to get usefully wide acceptance of this distinction?

Bowlsful is historically correct but bowlfuls has become quite commonplace. Language changes. I loathe 'mitigate against' but it has now become so universal I wouldn't bother commenting.

Then it would be cupsful. !!!!!

I think I would have it in a cup! 🤓

Now then - does one eat or drink soup?
Hmmm....

I agree with those saying that bowlful is a distinct noun so the 's' goes on the end.

'Three full bowls of soup' would emphasise the quantity and avoid the problem.

Not 'alot' oh, no!!!!! 🤯

This has made me think of porridge and the Three Bears 🐻

Bowlsful - it's analogous to bags full though bagsful does not exist. English is a dynamic language so either is ok in practice.

Really, I would prefer Maw's option, He ate three bowls of soup, as after all no-one is likely to have offered anyone a bowl that was three- quarters empty.

Now I’m concerned about the adverse effect of the 3 bowls on his bowels 😱

MaizieD

when I started secondary school we had an antiquated English teacher whose mantra was 'all right is not all right unless it is spelled as two words'. Nowadays everyone spells it as 'alright' without a second thought. I think that bowlsful has made much the same progression. I'm sure that it would originally have been two words, 'bowls full' and we've just got into the way of running them together. Having turned them into one word people are doing what seems to be the rule with a plural noun and putting the 's' at the end of the word.

My spellcheck objects to 'bowlsful', BTW. It offers me 'bowlfuls'

P.S I think that 'a lot' is going the same way., alot

Going off on a tangent, I would also like to complain about the similar way that "any more" has started to be joined up into one word.

I would also opt for bowls rather than bother with how full they were to be honest.

Maizie

'a lot' is going the same way., alot
😱 Argh!!

In this case Callistemon it was cawl .

grandtanteJE65

I would use bowlfuls both in speech and writing and bowls full in writing, but never bowlsful.

I am not sure whether there is a grammatical rule though.

Really, I would prefer Maw's option, He ate three bowls of soup, as after all no-one is likely to have offered anyone a bowl that was three- quarters empty.

I really think no-one needs more than one bowl full of soup.