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