Pet peeve

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AuthorTopic: Pet peeve
Warrior
Member # 1668
Profile #0
I suspect I may be alone on this one....

But does anyone out there flinch every time they open up the Spiderweb homepage, to see in large print on the left-hand side: "Forums".

Shouldn't it be "Fora"?

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"Mongo only pawn in game of life" -- Mongo
Posts: 75 | Registered: Monday, August 5 2002 07:00
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #1
Standard English plurals are always acceptable. "Fora" is also correct, but it's not necessary.

[ Thursday, March 24, 2005 08:57: Message edited by: Kelandon ]

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Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Law Bringer
Member # 335
Profile Homepage #2
Forums in fact appears to be the preferred English plural. Maybe not linguistically, but certainly numerically. That doesn't make it any more right (it's not easy to misunderestimate the ease with which words spread irregardless of their technical existence), but I think quite a few people would have no idea what "fora" are.

—Alorael, who has in fact never heard of any online boards being called fora. It makes sense, but it doesn't happen. The internet always wins the linguistic wars, lol!!!1!
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Warrior
Member # 1668
Profile #3
I guess that's why I had it under the rubric of "pet peeve" as opposed to "typo" or "error". I know that both are right, but heck, what ever happened to people using the proper, Latin derivations.

My blessed Latin teacher would be rolling around in her grave, but she's still alive, living on the Amalfi coast with her grandchildren...

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"Mongo only pawn in game of life" -- Mongo
Posts: 75 | Registered: Monday, August 5 2002 07:00
Warrior
Member # 3530
Profile #4
yea, the english language is very complicated, and I just recently found out that the correct spell of "all right" is not spelled "alright" and the same with "a lot", not "alot"

Very strange.
Posts: 79 | Registered: Tuesday, October 7 2003 07:00
Shock Trooper
Member # 4214
Profile #5
I agree that the word "fora" is certainly far more elegant than the word "forums".
Posts: 356 | Registered: Tuesday, April 6 2004 07:00
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
Profile #6
Yeah, but how far can you take this kind of thing? For instance, how many people realize, as I learned from an essay on this topic by WVO Quine, that the Latin plural of 'octopus' would be 'octopodes'? Or that the Greek plural of 'rhinoceros' would be 'rhinocerotes'? There's a point at which you admit that you're speaking English, not an ancient dead language, and go with the flow. It works, and it's not pretentious.

On the other hand, for years I have been calling an individual broccoli floret a 'broccolo'.

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Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
...b10010b...
Member # 869
Profile Homepage #7
It's called a broccolo? Wow, I've been saying "broccolus" for as long as I can remember. I feel stupid now.

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Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
Profile #8
Google says I'm actually right, but it was luck. I just decided 'broccolo' sounded better. Likewise 'spaghetto'.

[ Thursday, March 24, 2005 12:34: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ]

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Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Master
Member # 4614
Profile Homepage #9
Or you could just stay "a stalk of broccoli" or "a sphagetti noodle" or, for "a lot", just say "many" or "numerous."

However, I never realized that such words as broccoli even had proper singulars, or if they'll ever be needed. But while we're on the subject, yeah, it seems like it should be "broccolus", kind of like fungi/fungus or cacti/cactus.

EDIT: Oh, and BtW, I have never seen or heard of the word "fora". It sounds more like flora to me that the word for a group of (for understantibility) forums.

[ Thursday, March 24, 2005 13:28: Message edited by: ben2 ]

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-ben4808

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Posts: 3360 | Registered: Friday, June 25 2004 07:00
Master
Member # 1046
Profile Homepage #10
Until now, I didn't even know the proper plural of 'forum' is actually 'fora'. Thanks a lot for making me feel like a FOB, guys. -_-

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Posts: 3323 | Registered: Thursday, April 25 2002 07:00
Guardian
Member # 2238
Profile Homepage #11
I always knew "alot" was incorrect, but I'm still fairly certain "alright" is common, accepted English. I could be wrong, though, seeing as I just seemed to find out I was spelling "forward" wrong my whole life. Or something like that...

Also, I like "fora". I think I'll use that from now, tither.

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Posts: 1582 | Registered: Wednesday, November 13 2002 08:00
Warrior
Member # 3530
Profile #12
[QUOTE]Originally written by ben2:
[QB]
However, I never realized that such words as broccoli even had proper singulars, or if they'll ever be needed. But while we're on the subject, yeah, it seems like it should be "broccolus", kind of like fungi/fungus or cacti/cactus.

I know something to add, but I think I might get banned, so I'll keep my mouth shut, especially after the recent bannings.
Posts: 79 | Registered: Tuesday, October 7 2003 07:00
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #13
I draw the line at consonant-stem Greek nouns, like "rhinoceros" and "octopus." Unless you actually pronounce "rhinoceros" with a hard C, there's no point in pretending that you're speaking Greek. It's "rhinoceroses" every time.

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Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens.

Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me
The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever
Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Guardian
Member # 2238
Profile Homepage #14
That's funny to me, because for like a year, two friends and I started pronouncing everything like ancient Greek.

We found people still understood what we were saying, but they always gave us an odd look.

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The critics agree!

Demonslayer is "a five star hit!" raves TIMES Weekly!

"I've never heard such thoughtful comments. This man is a genious!" says two-time Nobel Prize winning physicist Erwin Rasputin!
Posts: 1582 | Registered: Wednesday, November 13 2002 08:00
Warrior
Member # 5619
Profile Homepage #15
I don't argee with Wary Wanderer, because "fora" is kind the short, and "forums" stand out better.

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Posts: 90 | Registered: Wednesday, March 23 2005 08:00
Apprentice
Member # 5564
Profile #16
I knew about octopodes, but I hadn't heard of fora before. Personally, I like "forums" better, but that could be because I'm so use to seeing it that way...
Posts: 22 | Registered: Tuesday, March 1 2005 08:00
Shaper
Member # 247
Profile Homepage #17
Crazy bunch of linguists! I can hardly spell the words that are in common form. I can write circles round yo ass but don't ask me to spell correctly.

Edit 1 more post will be 1,000. I shall find a good topic for it.

[ Thursday, March 24, 2005 19:01: Message edited by: VCH ]

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Posts: 2395 | Registered: Friday, November 2 2001 08:00
Law Bringer
Member # 335
Profile Homepage #18
Now I've run into my own pet peeve: nonstandard English. I'm guilty of abusing English myself, notably commas and sentence fragments, but words like "alright" bother me.

To be technical about it, the word is common but still not proper. I'm not quite sure why, but it's not proper. Because English is like that.

—Alorael, who has a love-hate relationship with English. He loves to correct people on the tiniest details and forcefully proclaims that English is a nonsensical, poorly amalgamated, worthless excuse for a language.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
...b10010b...
Member # 869
Profile Homepage #19
"Alright" is the standard form in Commonwealth English, I believe.

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Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Shock Trooper
Member # 4214
Profile #20
My spelling corrector recognizes "alright".
Posts: 356 | Registered: Tuesday, April 6 2004 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #21
On almost (wait, shouldn't that be "All most"?) every occasion I have seen several animals called "octopus" being referred to, collectively, as octopodes. Mainly because the English plural, relying on an 's', is quite tricky to add to a word ending on s.

On the other hand, I have seen "octopi", which is most likely incorrect, but at least sounds sorta correct. ;)

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Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Agent
Member # 618
Profile Homepage #22
Well, I learnt a long time ago that fora was the correct word, but it does look better, to the average person, who is unused to it, to use forums.

I'm guilty of many counts of murdering the English language and making up new words, to express somethings or just to call someone silly, without them realising.

It's an irrational language, anyway. One that changes very easily. I guess I enjoy the flexibility I can get with some words.

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Posts: 1487 | Registered: Sunday, February 10 2002 08:00
Infiltrator
Member # 4592
Profile #23
I were reading a new today about this people who found too interested datas about fishes. I now it doesn't has to do with this threat butt I thoght it interesting.

On the other hand.

I'd like to see "fora," perhaps, but I'm used to seeing "forums."

I wonder if it's okay to the following: once a word is adopted by another language, that language can do whatever it wants with it, even if it ignores the rules to which that word used to be subservient to.

So, when we use "Forums" in the net, it is the English word for it. It may have a root in Latin, but we're not talking Latin, the Forums are not in Latin, nor are they about Latin subjects (though one or two may pop up once in a while.) So, even if "fora" may be the correct plural for it in Latin, English, it seems, has used its right to be a dictator and obviated that little fact.

Now, if you went to a Latin site, all in Latin and you saw "Forums" there, I guess that might be cause for concern.

If we stuck to every single rule that every single word in a language used to follow when it was part of another language, then things would be very funky indeed.

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Posts: 604 | Registered: Sunday, June 20 2004 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 335
Profile Homepage #24
Both octopuses and octopi are correct English pluralizations. Octopodes wins style points, but it's not right. Pseudo-Latin always wins.

—Alorael, who loves meeses to pieces! English needs to take Germany's example and make itself more reasonable.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00

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