I like the theme of this week. I wonder if we will get 'opera' (quite likely) and 'panini' (less likely)!

Panini? (welcome) Ain't those little crispy buns? Never knew it as singular. Is it really? I came across a sentence in the book I'm now reading : "Like his sister Marguerite, Francis wanted to tolerate the Protestants, but the sect were not content with being let alone." etc.
Never knew sect is a plural singular.

>>but the sect were not content with being let alone. etc.
Never knew sect is a plural singular.<<

Hmmm! Interesting, Bran. I think it might depend on what you're saying about the sect. E.g., I would definitely say, "The sect was a strict one," rather than "were"
In the e.g. that you give, the context is the members of the sect were not comtent, whereas in my e.g. it is a function of the sect itself. I don't know if I'm right or not (and someone here will soon tell me! ) but that seems a logical analysis.

This is not a standard in American English. It is fairly common in British English and often going the way Rhuby suggests. Since Anu mentioned opera in the introduction to Monday's word I doubt it will be in the week's word.

In the U.S., anyway, "panini" is consistently used as both singular and plural in every place I've been that sells them. I tried ordering, "I'll have a ... panino, please" a couple of times, and got a strange look each time. By the way, again at least in the U.S., they aren't crispy buns, they're warm sandwiches on sliced bread pressed flat in a grill press. In Italy, I remember the word referring to a cold sandwich on a small baguette.

Thank you. I've done the image search. Indeed panini are flat and pressed in a toaster, also the italian where the baguette is pressed. They are very similar to the French 'croque monsieur' ou 'croque madame' and the Dutch 'tosti'.

I've seen Martha Stewart make 'panini' on TV...its a favourite of hers. The word is not common here in Oz.

And I agree with FF...Anu seldom repeats himself, so I doubt he will include opera in this weeks list.

opera

This week reminds me of a favorite subject of mine: incorrect Latin plurals. Opus 'work' and *opii (correct opera), virus 'poison; slime' and *virii (there is no correct plural, the word only occurs in Latin as a singular), octopus and *octopi (correct Greek octopodes), syllabus and *syllabi (correct syllabus), same with apparatus and *apparati (apparatus).

In english, the plurals I would use are: opus and opuses (opera has a new specialized meaning in English), virus and viruses, octopus and octopuses, etc.