# How do I pluralize this phrase? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 2, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386 "2011-10-02T23:27:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cryptic\_C62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cryptic\_C62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cryptic_C62)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/1 "2011-10-02T23:27:32Z")
“I can’t even explain how much of an asshole he is.” How can a similar phrasing be constructed for plural assholes? I literally have no idea. Some possibilities that don’t seem right: “I can’t even explain how much of an asshole they are.” “I can’t even explain how many of the assholes they are.” “I can’t even explain how much of an asshole they fill.” “I can’t even explain how many assholes they have.” Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/2 "2011-10-02T23:31:36Z")
I can’t even explain how assholish they were. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/3 "2011-10-02T23:33:01Z")
I can’t even explain what a bunch of assholes they are. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/4 "2011-10-02T23:34:02Z")
I can’t even explain what assholes they were. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/5 "2011-10-03T02:45:10Z")
I can’t explain what kind of assholes they are. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/6 "2011-10-03T02:48:07Z")
I can’t even explain how much like assholes they are. ---
**Author:** ![Melysnl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@Melysnl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melysnl)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/7 "2011-10-03T02:50:17Z")
I can’t even explain how many of them are assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/8 "2011-10-03T03:16:08Z")
“I can’t even explain how much of an asshole each one of them is.” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/9 "2011-10-03T04:01:07Z")
I can’t even explain all their assholes. Nah, I think **FloatyGimpy** nailed it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/10 "2011-10-03T10:56:59Z")
Donkeys’ holes? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/11 "2011-10-03T11:44:05Z")
“I can’t even explain how much of an asshole he is. And that goes double for the rest of them.” mmm ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/12 "2011-10-03T11:44:30Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > I can’t even explain what a bunch of assholes they are. This. Although what is really needed is a collective noun for a bunch of assholes. I’d like to suggest _an odour of assholes_. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/13 "2011-10-03T11:52:06Z")
I second the vote for: “I can’t even explain what a bunch of assholes they are.” although the words “a bunch” seem to add something that wasn’t in the original. So how about just: I can’t even explain what assholes they are. Interesting that several of the suggestions have changed the original into the past tense. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/14 "2011-10-03T12:07:01Z")
> [@sandra\_nz](#): > > This. > > Although what is really needed is a collective noun for a bunch of assholes. > > I’d like to suggest _an odour of assholes_. A _pucker of assholes_ would get my vote. Oh, and **FloatyGimpy’s** solution sounds the most natural to this Midwestern American. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/15 "2011-10-03T12:28:43Z")
This will depend upon what sort of plural we are talking about. It might be people as they function as part of some sort of organization or corporate entity. Then I think that something like **“The IRS: I can’t even explain how much of an asshole they are,”** would be appropriate. (Note that although you can refer to organizations in the singular, you cannot say “The IRS: I can’t even explain how much of an asshole it is.” An organization as such cannot be an asshole, but it can, potentially, turn its members or minions, when functioning as such, into assholes.) On the other hand, you might be wanting to talk about some group of individuals who all just happen to be assholes regardless of the fact that they are members of the group. Then, for maximum clarity and grammatical correctness I think you would want **“I can’t even explain how much of an asshole each and every one of them is.”** That may seem to prissy and pedantic, however. A more demotic, slightly less “grammatically correct” alternative, that will sit better with the term “asshole”, might be **"I can’t even explain how much of an asshole they all are."** The trouble with **FloatyGimpy** ’s solution, and several of the others, is that it actually introduces new concepts (“bunch”) or omits them (“how much”), and thus risks subtly changing the meaning. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/16 "2011-10-03T12:39:31Z")
What this thread needs is Benicio del Toro to pronounce each version in turn so that we can more accurately judge. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/17 "2011-10-03T12:46:50Z")
I can’t even explain the extent to which all of them are assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Jaxnative1210](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@Jaxnative1210](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaxnative1210)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/18 "2011-10-03T12:53:35Z")
a flatus of assholes? a sounding of assholes? an explosion of assholes??? more suggestions for the collection… ---
**Author:** ![brainfizz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/da6949/32.png) [@brainfizz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainfizz)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/19 "2011-10-03T14:26:24Z")
How about: My vocabulary is somewhat lacking when it comes to conveying this group’s verisimilitude to a gathering of rectal sphincters. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386/20 "2011-10-03T14:28:48Z")
I can’t explain why their hovercraft is full of assholes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-pluralize-this-phrase/598386.md?page=2)