Irrelevant It Was Called

[allan atlas]

GOOD FOLKS: there was a thread in one of the categories having to do with the plural of forum. . . . . .whether it was fora or fori

 

one respondent noted that the whole thing was irrelevant. . . .and perhaps it is. . . . .especially because English need not take over the correct Latin plural. . . . .

 

i quote from the second edition of Fowler's English Usage:

 

"All that can be safely said is that there is a tendency to abandon Latin plurals [my emphasis], and that, when one is really in doubt which to use, the English form should be given the preference."

 

thus forums is what all good c.netters would use.............allan

[PeterT]

..thus forums is what all good c.netters would use.............allan

Spoilsport!

[allan atlas]

PETER AND FOLKS: true. . . .but an ENGLISH-SPEAKING one..........whose Latin, never that good to begin with, has slipped something awful in recent years.............allan

[Leo]

And remember, there aren't any Romans around to correct your pronunciation.

Atque memento, nulli adsunt Romanorum qui locutionem tuam corrigant.

 

Thanks

Leo

[Dana Johnson]

one respondent noted that the whole thing was irrelevant. . . .and perhaps it is.

"It's not irrelevant, it's a hippopotamus"

( Flanders and Swan )

Dana

[Chris Drinkwater]

thus forums is what all good c.netters would use.............allan

 

Well, I suppose it also depends on whether you are forum or against 'em!

 

Chris

[david_boveri]

how about we do fowler one better and anglicize it? bulletin boards sounds better!

[Chris Timson]

Well, I suppose it also depends on whether you are forum or against 'em!

Chris - shame on you!

 

(I prefer forata anyway).

 

Chris

[Mikefule]

In Latin, a word ending in "um" would be pluralised with "a". Forum, fora.

 

An "i" pluralises a word that originally ends with "us". Servus, servi.

 

However, if you're going to use the Latin ending, why stick there. We should refer to reading things in the "foro", and so on. Words have different endings depending on whether they are the subject or object of the verb, whether they possess or ar epossessed, and so on.

 

This is why the Romans lost their empire. It was too complicated a language, and when the barbarians attacked, the sentries got confused when they shouted a warning. In modern English: "Helps of us, a mens with a beard is of the attacks in the many gates at the city." While this was being deciphered ("Help, there are barabarians attacking the city gate!") the barbarians were winning the battle.

 

But fortunately, in this forum, we are using English. I'm with Fowler on this. Forums, stadiums, and so on. Only use Latin endings on scientific words like bacterium/a.

 

Octopus was never a Latin word, so pluralising it to octopi is as daft as saying, "I went by bus. It was such a long journey, I had to change and take two bi."

[Dirge]

The plural of octopus is octopodes, (pronouncing the e long). Every schoolboy knows it's Greek.

[Robin Madge]

Shouldn't it be 'bus as it's short for omnibus

 

I remember my english teacher reading us a poem that declined omnibus, I can only recall one line now:

"Implit in the Corn and High, vincit omnia motoris bi."

 

Robn Madge

[PeterT]

I remember my english teacher reading us a poem that declined omnibus, I can only recall one line now:

"Implit in the Corn and High, vincit omnia motoris bi."

Wow, Robin! What were your Latin lessons like?

 

Regards,

Peter.

[allan atlas]

MIKEFULE AND FOLKS: plural of bus is bi. . . .that was very good. . . . .allan

[PeterT]

"I went by bus. It was such a long journey, I had to change and take two bi."

I now understand Shakespeare's dilema, whilst travelling through London!

[allan atlas]

and you should see all the BI lined up one behind the other as the crawl down fifth avenue. . . . . . .

 

 

i think the inventor of such a fine word deserves free access to c.net..............allan

[Hooves]

GOOD FOLKS: there was a thread in one of the categories having to do with the plural of forum. . . . . .whether it was fora or fori

 

thus forums is what all good c.netters would use.............allan

 

 

Have you forgotten your pig-latin?

 

orumsfae

[Theodore Kloba]

However, if you're going to use the Latin ending, why stick there. We should refer to reading things in the "foro", and so on. Words have different endings depending on whether they are the subject or object of the verb, whether they possess or ar epossessed, and so on.

I can think of a few "crystallised" phrases (scientific or legal mostly) where we do keep more inflectional morphology than the distinction of number, e.g.*: a priori, in vitro, in situ, ad hoc, pro bono, ex officio, etc.*

This is why the Romans lost their empire. It was too complicated a language

I know you are joking, but of course every language does have its own kind of complexities, and although the ones you mention in Latin are foreign to native English and Chinese speakers, they would not be to native speakers of Russian or Hindi for example.

 

*Yes, exempli gratia and et cetera could both go in there too!

[Robert Booth]

As I recall, this group couldn't settle on a plural for concertina!

 

That being the case with something so fundamental to us (and , I'm sure , NO ONE ELSE), woe and despair for properly pluralizing forum