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When is a YART not a YART? I suggest that a word which has not been posted for over a
years bears repetition, because so many new members will not have seen it. Shanks used
such a word a year and a half ago, and Byb repeated it, but neither gave a definition. So
it seems permissible to mention it again and give a definition from article in DISCOVER:
?Gallileo...in 1610....was amazed to find that the Milky Way was in fact 'a congeries of
innumerable stars distributed in clusters' "
As a quibble, it seems to be used only in the plural. But does that make it permissible to speak
of "a congeries" ?
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Without looking anything up, is it possible that congeries is singular?
Ha! Went and looked it up. Not unlike series, congeries is both singular and plural.
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Dear Faldage: Interesting. Can you think of others in this class?
A "menagerie" is a collection, but although my dictionary doesn't say so,
I presume the plural would be "menageries".
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others in this class
Right off the top my head, species is the onliest one pops. I notice they all end in -ies.
In cricket, innings is singular and, I think, plural, too. Any cricket fans out there reading this? Rube? Rhube?
Course, if you just mean words that are their own plurals, many animal names qualify. Sheep, deer, moose, etc.
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and then there are peas, which used to be pease (as a singular) but the singular got turned into pea.
and the same hold for cherries.. which used to be singular, and but in time the singular morphed into cherry. the french for cherries is cerice (which is also an english word for a rich medium red)
Are there others?
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others in this classhttp://members.aol.com/gulfhigh2/words14.html (page down a bit) also YARTŪ is its own plural (yet additional rehashed topics).
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Any cricket fans out there reading this? Rube? Rhube?
Well, not eggzacly a cricket fan but, yes, you are right:
"This is the first innings that Grace has played in this match."
"How many innings have the Indian side played so far?"
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An interesting concept, to be at once singular and plural. Where does "apparatus" fit in this schema? It isn't really "just another" collective noun, but one is hard put to decide on a sensible plural.
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Good one, wofahulicodoc: The dictionary gives a plural, but I have never seen or heard
it used.When I speak of apparatus, I think of one or more pieces of equipment that require
additional tools or supplies.
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wunderkind/wunderkinder
In the German this takes the new form in the plural, but it English I believe it just takes the s, wunderkinds, just like in one kind or many kinds. Kindergarten was co-opted directly from the German so that doesn't support the -er suffix.
Hmm...does that make kindergartners a redundant plural?
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