Die Dice! Die

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Famine

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Whilst wandering through one of our labs today, I heard some kids repeatedly referring to a die as "a dice". This got me wondering.

Is this faux pas - using the plural to refer to the singular object - THE most common misconception in the English-speaking (not writing - written grammar is full of pitfalls) world?

Does anyone else have any similar common slip-ups?
 
I work as an architect in a firm that designs baseball facilities. Without exception, everyone in this place refers to them as 'stadiums' rather than 'stadia'. I've given up.

My wife is a technical writer, and several of her coworkers refer to the back parts of a manual as the 'appendices', even when they're only discussing ONE.
 
Yes - the use of "stadiums", particularly on broadcast news, is another common one.

Appendices shows SOME intelligence, but as they say "A little learning is a dangerous thing". There's a lot of appendixes, apexes and indexes going around though.

I particularly hate "A hotel". But I think the "dice" thing is still the most common misconception.
 
I thought Dice was singular and die was plural.

* Hangs head in shame *
 
Anderton
I thought that rule about making it "an hotel" was not set in stone? Kind of up to the speaker? It sounds too much like a French rule to me.
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So what about motel? "I'm staying in an motel". or "I'm staying in a motel".
 
Anderton
I thought that rule about making it "an hotel" was not set in stone? Kind of up to the speaker? It sounds too much like a French rule to me.
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So what about motel?

"I'm staying in an motel". or "I'm staying in a motel".
 
Use "a" in front of a noun that begins with a consonant. Use "an" in front of a noun that begins with a vowel.

It's less clear when the word begins with an "h", which is consonant, but a soft, and sometimes silent, one.

My rule in these gray areas: use whichever sounds/reads better.
 
Sorry people, don't know what happened there. While sending my last post, the computer was taking too long to send so I clicked back and then I posted again. That's why there's two of the same posts. Again sorry.
 
This is what I've learned regarding "h" – If the "h" is completely silent (so you only hear the vowel right after it), then you use "an", but if the "h" is pronounced at all, then you use "a". I've always used "a hotel", since the "h" isn't silent.

I've surprised about the die-vs.-dice issue though… I've heard very few people use either the wrong way.

Is it cactuses or cacti?
 
Cacti, at least that's what my friend who grows them says.

Dictionary.com seems to say that they're both right, though.
 
people often say discuses instead of disci(i) at track meets.

i think discii is the correct plural form of discus, is it not? just like radius = radii (--i think i butchered the spelling lol.)
 
I'm guilty of that, if only because "well" sounds really odd – "Hey, how are you doing?" "Well, thanks." Sounds like a pause ("well..."), not an actual response.
 
Now, the real question is, If you get an order of fries, is it called a Fry, or Fries? :banghead: I've always wondered this!
 
"A hotel" sounds right to me, as in, "Come on baby, let's get a hotel room!"
I would think you can say "Fries" if you're referring to the fries themselves, as in "Would you like fries with that?" or "An order of French Fries". The only time I have ever heard anyone refer to a side order of french fries as a "fry" is my French-Canadian dad, who does things like this so often I don't even notice anymore. When we go to McDonalds he always orders "Big Mac, medium Coke, medium fry." Oh well.

I learned the Dice Rule a long time ago, from playing D&D (ashamed). So I have no trouble using the correct terminology nowadays!
 
Sage
I'm guilty of that, if only because "well" sounds really odd – "Hey, how are you doing?" "Well, thanks." Sounds like a pause ("well..."), not an actual response.
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I understand, I'm guilty too. I often reply with, "I'm doing pretty good, pretty good. You?". You could probably respond with, "I'm (doing) well, and you?", that may avoid it being so awkward. It also occured to me that, "Well, thanks." or something of the sort sounds odd because it isn't a full sentence.

Event, I think it would be fry. I've always ordered a "Large Fry".
 
A / An usage are denoted by the sound, not the letter. An is used for vowel sounding letters.

I have a friend that insists on saying "ideal" in place of "idea". And another that says "crost" instead of "cross", and ... uhm ... another word like that which escapes me at the moment.
 
I love it when "conversate" is used in place of "converse". or "conversating" instead of "conversing". It makes the speaker sound so smart.
 
Purple Platypus
Now....octupus has a plural form octopi.
Platypus has a plural form platypuses.

What does Lexus have?
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I would assume Lexus is the plural of Lexus.

But if quizes are quizical, what are tests? (:
 
And no need for analyzation – analysis will do. (My AP English teacher keeps telling us this over and over.)
 
analyzation

\An`a*ly*za"tion\, n. The act of analyzing, or separating into constituent parts; analysis.

I would say that in most cases, analyzation could be replaced with analysis. However, it does have a place that analysis can not fill.
 
Since we've drifted on to general language peeves, my all-time most hated (well, not all-time) has to be:

orientated

The word is 'oriented', people, as in "Let me just get the map oriented, and I'll know which way to go." Whether 'orientated' has been assimilated into the dictionary or not, it is still INCORRECT.

Another pet peeve is 'irregardless' - the correct term is 'regardless', since the 'ir' prefix constitutes a double negative. 'Irregardless' means that you are actually not 'regardless' of something, and are in fact paying attention to it.

And last but not least is 'repetetive', which is a corrupt and incorrect form of 'repetitious'.

One other oddity I've encountered in the building trades is the double-pluralizing of some words. A 'joist' is the singular word for a board that supports the flooring. This is frequently made plural as 'joistses' for some reason, rather than 'joists'.
 
One example is the "s" in Illinois. I never say it but I hear people once in a while that don't know better who do.
Here are some other ones I hear.
Deer--Deers?
Fish--Fishes?
 
Purple Platypus
Now....octupus has a plural form octopi.
Platypus has a plural form platypuses.

What does Lexus have?
Click to expand...

We say "Lexuses", although we joke about someone being a "two Lexii (Lex-eye) owner", for the sake of silly conversation. Since Lexus is a made-up word, and a proper noun at that, technically, the plural form is whatever Toyota wants to call it. Of course, it's easier to say, "they have X cars in our system", as to prevent confusion. They have an RX and a GS...easy enough!

It sounds a lot more funny to say,"...swim with the fishes...", even though it's not grammatically correct.
 

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