Going bananas
The other day I was lost in Target, looking for some candy to buy my girlfriend, when I stumbled upon a very interesting sign.
.25 Bananas by the each
Some of you may never have heard of this new unit of measurement, "each"; more likely accustomed to quantifying fruit based on weight or assortment, such as "peaches by the pound" or "apples by the bushel."
Well, what do you call bananas if not "each"? Bananas are commercially sold together in what are often referred to as bunches, stalks, and stems, but the thread doesn't seem to stop there. According to Bananasaver.com, a cluster of bananas is quantified as a hand, and each individual banana is therefore a finger. Even in that description, though, the term cluster is used too.
So why the usage of "the each"? For one thing, the word each denotes no determinative characteristics - it could refer to hands or it could refer to fingers of bananas. It's possible that the person in charge of the sign wanted to distinguish that each banana is 25 cents, but due to its vagueness, one could infer that it means each group of bananas is 25 cents - helluva deal, too.
To a descriptivist with a minor background in economics, it's logical to assume that the sign denotes "each" as "singular banana," and as long as people understand what the sign attempted to imply, there's no need for further discourse. However, to a prescriptivist, it's easy to misinterpret the intentions of the sign, and the potential for confusion could easily be avoided by altering its message.
So, kind reader: should the sign stay the way it is, or should it be changed? 
.25 Bananas by the each
Some of you may never have heard of this new unit of measurement, "each"; more likely accustomed to quantifying fruit based on weight or assortment, such as "peaches by the pound" or "apples by the bushel."
Well, what do you call bananas if not "each"? Bananas are commercially sold together in what are often referred to as bunches, stalks, and stems, but the thread doesn't seem to stop there. According to Bananasaver.com, a cluster of bananas is quantified as a hand, and each individual banana is therefore a finger. Even in that description, though, the term cluster is used too.
So why the usage of "the each"? For one thing, the word each denotes no determinative characteristics - it could refer to hands or it could refer to fingers of bananas. It's possible that the person in charge of the sign wanted to distinguish that each banana is 25 cents, but due to its vagueness, one could infer that it means each group of bananas is 25 cents - helluva deal, too.
To a descriptivist with a minor background in economics, it's logical to assume that the sign denotes "each" as "singular banana," and as long as people understand what the sign attempted to imply, there's no need for further discourse. However, to a prescriptivist, it's easy to misinterpret the intentions of the sign, and the potential for confusion could easily be avoided by altering its message.
So, kind reader: should the sign stay the way it is, or should it be changed?
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