|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
Virii ?? why two "i"s ? (apart from hackneyed jokes about being able to see better) Surely the plural of "virus" should be "viri": it could only be virii if the singular were virius (c.f. radius/radii)
It is the sort of question that bugs you, is it not?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
This is what is vulgarly referred to as "a cop out."
"Beauty is truth," you say; "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," is an aphorism also well accredited. Put them together and you can deduce that truth is in the eye of the beholder. Which gives "viruses" an equal claim, I aver.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
The plural is viri in Latin but viruses in English. I have seen it as viri in medical journals, but not anywhere else that I recall.
I suspect the reason for this apparent discrepancy is that viruses trips off the tongue better than do radiuses and hippopotamuses. The accented syllable (vir) is too close to the -i to be sonorous (at least in English).
Along those lines, most dictionaries show octopuses or octopi as the plural of octopus. In my view the latter is incorrect since octopus is not from Latin, but from Greek okto (eight) plus pous (foot).
TEd
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
>Along those lines, most dictionaries show octopuses or octopi as the plural of octopus. In my view the latter is incorrect since octopus is not from Latin, but from Greek okto (eight) plus pous (foot).
well, maybe we should compromise with octopodes then...
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 140
member
|
member
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 140 |
well, maybe we should compromise with octopodes then... Thanks yet again, tsuwm, for setting us all straight. My beloved Chambers even agrees with you!! It gives "octpuses" as archaic, "octopi" as wrong, and "octopodes" as correct. And I have seen this form used often, can't remember specifically where or when. Rgds, lusy
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444
addict
|
addict
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444 |
>, maybe we should compromise with octopodes then<
Can I infer from this that now I have moved to Australia I am living in an Antipus?
Shame, I always rather liked cats.....
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,580
Members9,187
|
Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
0 members (),
332
guests, and
0
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|