WWTBAM Bored

"Ten!"

Let's see how this category grabs you...

"One Fish, Two Fish... Or Is It Two Fishes?"

Actually, either one is an acceptable plural form of "fish". The English language can be very confusing when it comes to plurals... so let's see how qualified you are to speak English. For each of the 10 words and phrases below, tell me its proper plural form. If plurals sound like your cups of tea, then you'll want to make bet percentages on tomorrow's "Fat Chance" question about English plurals.

Answers are due by Friday 5/2 at 4 PM EDT.

1. matrix
2. dogma
3. still life
4. apparatus
5. director general
6. major general
7. mongoose
8. quarterstaff
9. manservant
10. Atlas (as in the statue, not the map)
"Fat Chance" bet: ___%

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Not playing, but this reminds me of one of my favorite Allan Sherman songs.

Questions? Answers.

1. matrix matrices
2. dogma dogmas
3. still life still lifes
4. apparatus apparatus
5. director general directors general
6. major general major generals
7. mongoose mongoose
8. quarterstaff quarterstaves
9. manservant manservants
10. Atlas (as in the statue, not the map) atlases
"Fat Chance" bet: ___% 10

--Bob

1. matrix -- matrices

Latin and Greek derivatives ending in "-ex" or "-ix" typically end in "-ices" in their plural form. Sex and six don't quite work here, though.

2. dogma -- dogmata or dogmas

Greek derivates ending in "-ma" typically end in "-mata" in their plural form, although a simple "-s" ending is also acceptable.

3. still life -- still lifes

It looks weird, but that's the appropriate plural spelling. Compound words such as "still life" and "flatfoot" are called bahuvrihi compounds. That means that the word is technically not a type of what the end word suggests. A still life is not a type of life and a flatfoot is not a type of foot. So a simple "-s" ending is correct.

4. apparatus -- apparatus or apparatuses

I opined about the plural form of this word on the Bored many years ago in a discussion about the Golgi apparatus. I questioned if the plural form was "apparatuses" or "apparati". The appropriate plural is actually the same as the singular, although the "-es" ending is also acceptable. Meatus and status also follow this exception to the "-us" becomes "-i" rule.

5. director general -- directors general

Since the word "general" is used as an adjective in this compound word, you pluralize the first word, just as you would with "attorney general".

6. major general -- major generals

In this case, "general" is the noun and "major" is the adjective, so "general" gets the "-s".

7. mongoose -- mongooses

This case is similar to the bahuvrihi compounds in #3. A mongoose is not a type of goose, so you don't pluralize it to "mongeese".

8. quarterstaff -- quarterstaffs

Although the correct plural form of "staff" is "staves" when referring to the mystical poles, the "-ves" ending is not used when "staff" is part of a compound word. Old dictionaries considered "quarterstaves" and "flagstaves" the correct plural form, but those words are now obsolete. I decided at the last second to accept "quarterstaves".

9. manservant -- menservants

Since both "man" and "servant" are considered nouns, both parts get pluralized.

10. Atlas (as in the statue, not the map) -- Atlantes

This one is just bizarre. This is the only Greek derivative that hypothetically (since there's only one Atlas) changes to "-antes" in its plural form. Yet, the plural form of small-a "atlas" is "atlases".

Bob J and Frank each got a perfect score. I did give Frank credit for #10 because he is correct about there being only one Atlas statue and a plural form of that word would therefore be pointless. That's why I said the plural was only hypothetical.

4/28 + 4/29 + 4/30 + 5/1 Scores (8 participants)
Bob Juch - 8 + 13 + 0 + 40 = 61
franktangredi - 2 + 7 + 10 + 40 = 59
ShamelessWeasel - 7 + 12 + 6 + 28 = 53
smilergrogan - 3 + 11 + 6 + 32 = 52
themanintheseersuckersuit - 2 + 9 + 0 + 32 = 43
jarnon - 1 + 4 + 0 + 32 = 37
Bob78164 - 1 + 6 + 0 + 28 = 35
kroxquo - 1 + 6 + 0 + 28 = 35

Pastor Fireball wrote:1. matrix -- matrices

Latin and Greek derivatives ending in "-ex" or "-ix" typically end in "-ices" in their plural form. Sex and six don't quite work here, though.

2. dogma -- dogmata or dogmas

Greek derivates ending in "-ma" typically end in "-mata" in their plural form, although a simple "-s" ending is also acceptable.

3. still life -- still lifes

It looks weird, but that's the appropriate plural spelling. Compound words such as "still life" and "flatfoot" are called bahuvrihi compounds. That means that the word is technically not a type of what the end word suggests. A still life is not a type of life and a flatfoot is not a type of foot. So a simple "-s" ending is correct.

4. apparatus -- apparatus or apparatuses

I opined about the plural form of this word on the Bored many years ago in a discussion about the Golgi apparatus. I questioned if the plural form was "apparatuses" or "apparati". The appropriate plural is actually the same as the singular, although the "-es" ending is also acceptable. Meatus and status also follow this exception to the "-us" becomes "-i" rule.

5. director general -- directors general

Since the word "general" is used as an adjective in this compound word, you pluralize the first word, just as you would with "attorney general".

6. major general -- major generals

In this case, "general" is the noun and "major" is the adjective, so "general" gets the "-s".

7. mongoose -- mongooses

This case is similar to the bahuvrihi compounds in #3. A mongoose is not a type of goose, so you don't pluralize it to "mongeese".

8. quarterstaff -- quarterstaffs

Although the correct plural form of "staff" is "staves" when referring to the mystical poles, the "-ves" ending is not used when "staff" is part of a compound word. Old dictionaries considered "quarterstaves" and "flagstaves" the correct plural form, but those words are now obsolete. I decided at the last second to accept "quarterstaves".

9. manservant -- menservants

Since both "man" and "servant" are considered nouns, both parts get pluralized.

10. Atlas (as in the statue, not the map) -- Atlantes

This one is just bizarre. This is the only Greek derivative that hypothetically (since there's only one Atlas) changes to "-antes" in its plural form. Yet, the plural form of small-a "atlas" is "atlases".

Bob J and Frank each got a perfect score. I did give Frank credit for #10 because he is correct about there being only one Atlas statue and a plural form of that word would therefore be pointless. That's why I said the plural was only hypothetical.

4/28 + 4/29 + 4/30 + 5/1 Scores (8 participants)
Bob Juch - 8 + 13 + 0 + 40 = 61
franktangredi - 2 + 7 + 10 + 40 = 59
ShamelessWeasel - 7 + 12 + 6 + 28 = 53
smilergrogan - 3 + 11 + 6 + 32 = 52
themanintheseersuckersuit - 2 + 9 + 0 + 32 = 43
jarnon - 1 + 4 + 0 + 32 = 37
Bob78164 - 1 + 6 + 0 + 28 = 35
kroxquo - 1 + 6 + 0 + 28 = 35

Bob J and Frank each got a perfect score. I did give Frank credit for #10 because he is correct about there being only one Atlas statue and a plural form of that word would therefore be pointless. That's why I said the plural was only hypothetical.

That's not correct: "Atlas" is also a classical architectural term for giants holding up roofs, etc.