word usage - How flexible is "a dozen"?


How flexible is the measurement "a dozen"?


If there are nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand people at a rally it is acceptable to say one million people attended, but if eleven people are arrested is it acceptable to round up to a dozen?



Answer



Dozen is quite flexible when it is pluralized. While hundreds sounds natural, you don't often hear about there being tens of something. Saying there were dozens of something fills this void without implying an exact multiple of 12.


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