a java-flavoured dilemma

today transpired a hot debate at starbucks...and when i say 'hot' i mean there were 3 of us, and we're fairly attractive. i really don't think anyone else really cares about this particular topic. regardless:

'grounds' vs. 'grinds'

the general consensus was that 'grinds' is a more colloquial term for the pulverized beans, while 'grounds' is the proper appellation. i personally favour 'grounds', on a purely grammatical basis:

'i grind' = present tense. 'i ground' = past tense. in many languages, verbs lend themselves to other grammatical structures, such as participles. there exists a type of participle known as a 'p.p.p.', or a perfect passive participle. these happy little verbal wanna-bes can be attached to a noun as a qualification of some aspect: the coffee having been ground. from there one can adapt the p.p.p. into an adjectival form: 'ground coffee'. several languages, including german and ancient greek, can make adjectives into actual nouns, through the process of substantiation. the adjective now stands in for the noun, and can be modified by means of inflectional morphemes to take a plural form:

grounds.

(yes, i am a crusty old grammarian at the age of 24. i think maybe i missed my calling.)