#71289
05/26/2002 12:28 AM
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 9
stranger
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stranger
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 9 |
Is the plural of mongoose, mongeese or mongooses?
foggy gardens
foggy gardens
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#71290
05/26/2002 12:39 AM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
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#71291
05/26/2002 4:52 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
Is the past tense mongoosed? Oh. It's a noun. Sorry. 
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#71292
05/26/2002 5:32 AM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
The owner of a small zoo lost two prize animals in a fire. To order another pair, he wrote a letter to a zoological supply company: "Dear Sirs: Please send me two mongooses." That didn’t sound quite right, so he began again: "Dear Sirs: Please send me two mongeese." Still not sure of his plurals, he made this third attempt: "Dear Sirs: Please send me a mongoose, and, while you’re at it, please send me another mongoose."
~Richard Lederer, Writer’s Digest, June 1991
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#71293
05/26/2002 5:33 AM
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 688
addict
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addict
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 688 |
Is the past tense mongoosed?Who are you mongoosing Geoff? 
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#71294
05/26/2002 10:51 AM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
On the slender evidence that the plural of wayzgoose is wayzgooses, I plump for the same construction for Rikki.
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#71295
05/26/2002 1:04 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
Who are you mongoosing Geoff? Come closer, and let me tell you.  Mon-goose is one, bi-goose is two, multi-goose is an indefinate number BTW, didn't we discuss the plural of mongoose about a year and a half ago?
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#71296
05/26/2002 1:34 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Since "mongoose" is derived from a native word that sounds like it, and has nothing to do with "goose" it is absured to make its plural like plural of the bird.
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#71297
05/26/2002 2:32 PM
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 688
addict
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addict
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 688 |
Who are you mongoosing Geoff? Come closer, and let me tell you.OUCH!!!!!!!!!!
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#71298
05/26/2002 3:08 PM
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 9
stranger
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stranger
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 9 |
It is fun to read all your posts, thank you. Last night while reading a book from the library I came across the sentence with the word mongeeses. Someone had written on the edge, "mongooses, puhleez."
foggy gardens
foggy gardens
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#71299
05/26/2002 3:25 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Plural of mongoose:
mengoose
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#71300
05/26/2002 6:40 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
re:
Plural of mongoose:
mengoose
being a bit of a nit picker here, but if mon is one (as in monaural records-- those with a single sound track..) the plural could be
duegoose (as duet-- 2 singer)
or for a multitude, polygoose!
i would not recomment steroegoose..
stereo is a bit of a trick, it means solid-- going back to the greek root stereos. the earliest english compound word that used stereo was stereometry-- the mathamatical term denoting the measurement of three dimentional objects.
this was followed by stereographic, and stereotype(originally a 'solid' printing block; the metaporical 'unvaried or conventional image' come to be in the middle of the 19th century,) along with stereoscope.. a viewer for reproducing 'solid' or 3-d images.
Stereophonic, likewise produced 3 -d sound!
(most of the info on stereo, above from Ayto's Dictionary of Word Origins
which is why stereo can be 2 or 4 or 8 or some other number of tracks.. but monaural is always 1 sound (track)
so a stereogoose.. would be a solid one.. but i think the plain old mongoose is pretty solid, to begin with..
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#71301
05/26/2002 8:01 PM
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 0
stranger
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stranger
Joined: May 2002
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#71302
05/27/2002 1:15 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Dear of Troy,
I was jesting (what else?) with mengoose. I was thinking in terms of how sometimes you hear people say, "Mon" instead of "Man," pronounced something like "Monn." So, reading mongoose that way (mon for man), well, the rest is pretty obvious.
In the spirit of explaining the ludicrous,
WW
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#71303
05/27/2002 11:55 AM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Nonsence, Dub dub, you bring out a great point.. and perhaps i was wrong.. Mon is sometimes a slang way to say man, but it is french for man isn't it? Monsure?
so these ***goose's are they clones? what about the womangooge's?(or should that be womongoose's?) and then womengoose's if you have more than one?
but maybe since Mon sound french-- it should be the madamgoose's! and the young one madamasellegoose's, n'pas?
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#71304
05/27/2002 1:56 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
Mon is sometimes a slang way to
say man, but it is french for man isn't it? Monsure?It's "Monsieur," and it literally means, "My lord." So, following this line of logic, 'mongoose" means "my goose." Nah, this is chasing a wild goose, I'm afraid. Now, I'll duck for cover after posting such a canard!
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#71305
05/27/2002 2:09 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Geoff, you post correcting my spelling of monsieur, in relation to mongooses, (or is it monsieurgooses!) puts me into a fowl mood! you obviously carnary about my feelings!
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#71306
05/27/2002 4:52 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Surely the plural of "mongoose" is "votregoose"? I mean, really!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#71307
05/27/2002 4:56 PM
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 0
stranger
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stranger
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 0 |
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#71308
05/27/2002 5:02 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Well, "Really" back atcha' CApK
And while we are at it --- be careful how you scatter votregoose around votreself ... and as for monself, I am always wary when someone offers me a free goose!
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#71309
05/27/2002 5:04 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Well then: the plural of mongoose could be mesgeese.
I have a friend who is reading this thread and is disgruntled that this little nonsensical discussion is taking away from the magnificence of the mongoose itself.
Many apologies from this word-nerd.
Riki-Tiki regards,
WW
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#71310
05/27/2002 10:06 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
I have a friend who is reading this thread and is disgruntled that this little nonsensical discussion is taking
away from the magnificence of the mongoose itself.
I wonder how the person who originated this thread, pjandq, is holding up after seeing the genie she released from her bottle? Disgusted or delighted, or...?
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#71311
05/27/2002 10:48 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
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#71312
05/28/2002 2:20 PM
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 9
stranger
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stranger
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 9 |
pjandq is laughing. I really like the stereogoose best, I would never have thought of that.
foggy gardens
foggy gardens
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#71313
05/29/2002 1:07 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
pjandq is laughing. I really like the stereogoose bestGood! You'll fit right in with the rest of us in this asylum! But your stereogoose ain't got nuthin' on the doppler duck.
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