While posting a comment on ungulates, I was reminded of another difference between Nth. America and Zild. Here in NZ, I was taught that the plural of roof is "rooves", and that the plural of hoof is "hooves". My preference for the "ves" plural was further stregthened by fondness for Tolkien's works, with his insistence on using "dwarves" rather than "dwarfs." There is also the matter of pronunciation. Here we pronounce both "roof" and "hoof" with the same vowel sound as that in "whom", while norteamericanos appear to use the vowel sound found in "crook". Even someone I normally consider mellifluous, like Peter Jennings, sounds less than euphonious to my shell likes when talking about "hoofs"