iMacDance [via BoingBoing]
For those of you trying to make sense of the pluralization rules in the script I posted yesterday, I would like to take this opportunity to point out that delf is a real English word which means “quarry”, and pelf is a real English word that means “dishonest wealth”. The plural of “delf” is “delfs”, and the plural of “pelf” is “pelfs”, at least, according to the Official Scrabble Player’s Dictionary. So there.
Word lovers are encouraged to let me know about potential additions or modifications to the pluralization rules. One thing I’m interested in is correctly pluralizing Latin words that we borrowed wholesale. These are generally problematic, as it’s difficult to tell (without simply listing them) which ones follow Latin rules and which do not. For instance, the plural of “radius” is “radii”, but the plural of “genius” is “geniuses”. “Consortium” becomes “consortia”, but “premium” becomes “premiums”. English sucks.
Speaking of word lovers, Bryan Rasmussen sent me some wonderful examples of the Google parlor game I mentioned a few days ago, trying to get Google searches that only matched a single page. Here’s one. Here’s another.
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© 2001–9 Mark Pilgrim