bedroll [vs sleeping bag]

[raymondaliasapollyon]

Hi,

The Longman Dictionary defines the word bedroll as "a number of BLANKETs rolled together and used for sleeping outdoors."

I'm curious about why the plural blankets is used in the definition.

I'd appreciate your help.

 

[dojibear]

If there are several blankets, then "blanket" is plural. How could it be singular?

"A number of" means "several".

 

[Egmont]

Because a bedroll is usually made from more than one blanket.

Cross-posted.

 

[dojibear]

Are you thinking of the use of "of" with uncountable nouns? "Blanket" is not an uncountable noun. It is a countable object.

The uncountable noun is "blanketing". Each "blanket" is a bed-size item, made out of blanketing.

 

[raymondaliasapollyon]

I'm thinking a bedroll, or a sleeping bag, typically contains only one blanket.

 

[dojibear]

The Longman Dictionary defines the word bedroll as "a number of BLANKETs rolled together

I'm thinking a bedroll, or a sleeping bag, typically contains only one blanket.

The Longman Dictionary doesn't know what you are thinking, so it doesn't affect their grammar. They define a bedroll as more than one blanket.

Besides, a "sleeping bag" has a top and a bottom: 2 blankets.

 

[raymondaliasapollyon]

Isn't a sleeping bag just a blanket with two foldable parts?

 

[Roxxxannne]

A sleeping bag is quite unlike two blankets. It's insulated and made of different material from blankets. Some sleepoing bags are rectangular and some are shaped more like mummy cases, wider at the shoulders and with a hood that can be cinched around one's head. They can be zipped up, and some have a zipper on three sides so two sleeping bags can be zipped together. In other words, sleeping bags may function like blankets, but they are constructed much differently and cannot be 'deconstructed' into two blankets.

 

[sdgraham]

The Longman Dictionary defines the word bedroll as "a number of BLANKETs rolled together and used for sleeping outdoors."
I'm curious about why the plural blankets is used in the definition.

Gettng back to the original, language question, which has nothing to with sleeping bags, .....
A "number of .... " takes the plural, even if the number is one.
You may ask "Why?," but the answer is, "Because that's the way it's done in English.

 

[dojibear]

 

[velisarius]

Random House wisely avoids the vexed question of how many blankets/sleeping bags go into a bedroll, and uses the term "bedding" (thereby leaving itself wide open to questions like "Can a bedroll also contain other items of bedding, such as sheets and pillows?")

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2019
bed•roll (bed′rōl′), USA pronunciation n.

1. bedding rolled for portability and used esp. for sleeping out-of-doors.

 

[Andygc]

Does this not, yet again, explain why some call Longman "Wrongman"? To suggest that a bedroll can only consist of blankets is ludicrous.

I'm curious about why the plural blankets is used in the definition

Answered in post 2, and others.

I'm thinking a bedroll, or a sleeping bag, typically contains only one blanket.

The construction of sleeping bags is irrelevant; they aren't blankets. Your bedroll might be one blanket, but your use of "typically" is, from this BE speaker's point of view, wrong.

 

[S1m0n]

I wouldn't call a sleeping bad a bedroll at all. They're similar object, but sleeping bags replaced bedrolls.

 

[raymondaliasapollyon]

How does a bedroll differ from a sleeping bag?

 

[Roxxxannne]

How does a bedroll differ from a sleeping bag?

The definition you cited in your OP says 'a number of blankets.' A sleeping bag is not 'a number of blankets.' See #8 and #10 above.
One might use a bedroll and a sleeping bag for the same purpose, but they don't look the same.

 

[JulianStuart]

It would appear (from looking at images that come up in Google for "bedroll") that many now use the term for what the posters above (and I) would call a sleeping bag (bag=a container or receptacle of leather, plastic, cloth, paper, etc., capable of being closed at the mouth; pouch.) The dictionary definition clearly describes something that is not a bag: a blanket, or set of blankets, is not a bag.

 

[Myridon]

How does a bedroll differ from a sleeping bag?

1. bedding rolled for portability and used esp. for sleeping out-of-doors.

A bedroll consists of bedding (regular sheets, blankets, etc) that you would put on your regular bed and roll them up so you can take them with you on your camping trip or whatever where there no bed to put the bedding on. You can make one yourself from things you already have in your house.
A sleeping bag, in addition to all the other differences (materials, size, shape, zippers, etc) is something that you buy already made at a store.

 

[kentix]

A modern sleeping bag is a purpose-built, one-piece unit with a zipper (generally) that forms a sort of tube you sleep inside. It's usually made of high-tech materials.

A bedroll (in the way I've seen it used in cowboy contexts) is any collection of blankets and covers assembled to serve as an impromptu bed. All the items can be rolled up together for storage. One blanket would hardly be enough to form a bed that would cushion you from the hard ground and cover you and protect you from the rain. I think their bedrolls probably included some sort of thicker ground layer (maybe a sheepskin) and then more blankets on top.

I just watched a video of a guy showing off his bedroll like he used to use when camping with his family 50 years ago. It consisted of a separate tarp made of canvas treated with linseed oil to be waterproof and a very large wool military-surplus blanket with a sheet sewn to it for added comfort. There were straps that went around it when it was all rolled up together to make it easier to carry.

 

[JulianStuart]

A modern sleeping bag is a purpose-built, one-piece unit with a zipper (generally) that forms a sort of tube you sleep inside. It's usually made of high-tech materials.

A bedroll (in the way I've seen it used in cowboy contexts) is any collection of blankets and covers assembled to serve as an impromptu bed. All the items can be rolled up together for storage. One blanket would hardly be enough to form a bed that would cushion you from the hard ground and cover you and protect you from the rain. I think their bedrolls probably included some sort of thicker ground layer (maybe a sheepskin) and then more blankets on top.

I just watched a video of a guy showing off his bedroll like he used to use when camping with his family 50 years ago. It consisted of a separate tarp made of canvas treated with linseed oil to be waterproof and a very large wool military-surplus blanket with a sheet sewn to it for added comfort. There were straps that went around it when it was all rolled up together to make it easier to carry.

That describes what I (and the other posters above) have in mind, and the dictionary entry agrees with that. The OP is, somewhat justifiably confused, because Googling for images of "bedroll" brings up a lot of things we all would reject as "bedrolls" but are clearly "seeping bags".