I suppose I should put more smileys in my posts to make clear when I’m making fun of an idea, rather than saying something seemingly stupid. :rolleyes:
In English, words like agenda and data have been transformed from their original Latin forms (plurals) to fit the common usage by speakers of English. Agenda has become quite thoroughly singular, and data is well on the way (very few people bother to talk about an individual datum any more). There are other examples extant in our language.
That’s the funny thing about language, it shifts with the time. We borrow words, and in the borrowing, we make them our own. In the process, we often manage to change the word in some way. Many people consider the plural of octopus to be octopuses, not octopi. Then, there are those who try to apply foreign pluralizations incorrectly (such as by taking any word ending in -us and making the plural be -i). In the process, the “correct” pluralization will often change.
You make a big deal out of Latin pluralizations, but I’m guessing you don’t bother to complain about all the improper examples of pluralization of French words, or German words we have borrowed, to say nothing of Greek words, or American Indian words, etc., etc., etc. Nor do I expect that you bother to pronounce your favorite little Latin words as they would be in Latin (if you use the soft “g” to say “agenda”, you’ve just acknowledged it isn’t a Latin word any more). So all this silliness about trying to assert that you can’t say “referendums” is just that, silliness. Pretty stupid silliness, at that. Makes you look like an idiot if you try it either with them as know why you’re being silly, or with them as don’t. :smack:
