Buying lottery tickets and getting gas. I say: 10 dollars on/for powerball. vs 10

[B45]

Buying lottery tickets and getting gas. I say:

10 dollars on/for powerball.

vs

10 dollars on/for pump 5.

Are all okay?

 

[riquecohen]

As a Powerball ticket costs $2.00, I imagine you'd ask for 5 Powerball tickets or $10.00 worth of Powerball tickets. I've never bought one myself, so let's wait and see if there are other opinions.

The second question applies to gas stations where you pre-pay and pump the gas yourself. I think both your options are okay.

 

[Rover_KE]

It depends what country you're in.

In the USA I say 'Ten dollars on five, please'.

I don't buy powerball tickets in America.

 

[emsr2d2]

In the UK, we have very few petrol stations where someone else puts the petrol in the car. They are almost exclusively self-service so we would have no need to use your sentence. We put the petrol in the car and then go into the main building and just say "Number 6". They look at the readout and reply with the amount to pay (we already know the amount because it's displayed on the actual petrol pump, of course).

 

[SoothingDave]

In the US in most places, if you do not have a credit/debit card to use at the pump (which most people do nowadays), you have to go inside and pre-pay a certain dollar amount. This is to deter theft.

 

[B45]

And what about for the Lottery?

10 dollars on/for powerball.

Ok?

 

[emsr2d2]

In the US in most places, if you do not have a credit/debit card to use at the pump (which most people do nowadays), you have to go inside and pre-pay a certain dollar amount. This is to deter theft.

Yes, I recall this when I visited the States and hired a car. I was baffled the first time I tried to put petrol in the car. There was a sign saying "Please pay first". I couldn't work out how that was possible as I had no idea how much petrol I needed to put in. I simply wanted to fill the tank and had no clue how much that would cost. I was eventually told to pay $20 upfront, fill the tank and then pay the remainder afterwards. They seemed to be amazed that I wanted to pay in cash! I should point out that I visited before it was possible to use a credit/debit card at the pump itself. That technology has reached the UK too but has only become popular in the last couple of years.