# How do you form the plural of Blackberry **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 7, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654 "2009-05-07T14:25:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/21 "2009-05-07T17:00:33Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > What do you call a situation where you have more than one point-and-click computer peripheral device? Let’s just say the jury is still out. > > As someone whose family name ends in a “y” I vote for “Blackberrys.” I call those things “mice”, and I will until people start calling animals of the _Mus_ genus “mouses”. – It’s the same word “mouse” for both. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/22 "2009-05-07T17:06:57Z")
I’ve always seen the plural written as bb’s on the sites I frequent . . . 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/23 "2009-05-07T17:11:20Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > I call those things “mice”, and I will until people start calling animals of the _Mus_ genus “mouses”. – **It’s the same word “mouse” for both**. (Bolding mine.) Yes, but that’s not the determining factor (see post #18). The significant question is whether “mouse” is considered a literal term or a stylistic one in that application. As **kunilou** stated, the issue is not yet resolved. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/24 "2009-05-07T17:21:42Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > That last one surprises me. Why would that surprise you? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/25 "2009-05-07T17:21:59Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > (Bolding mine.) Yes, but that’s not the determining factor (see post #18). The significant question is whether “mouse” is considered a literal term or a stylistic one in that application. As **kunilou** stated, the issue is not yet resolved. Yes, I know the issue is not resolved, and many people prefer “mouses” for the computer devices. However, I’m not sure what is meant by “nonliteral/stylistic uses of the word”. If it means metaphorical extensions of a word’s denotation, then I’d disagree. For example, take a double extension. First you have “man”, plural “men”, denoting male human beings. That was extended to “man of war”, denoting a kind of naval ship, where the plural is “men of war”. The second extension was to “Portuguese man of war”, denoting a kind of jellyfish – and the plural of that is “Portuguese men of war”, not “Portuguese mans of war” or “Portuguese man of wars”. That’s because, when you look behind the metaphorical extensions, it’s still the same word “man”. However, you should say “shamans” and not “shamen”, because the “man” in “shaman” does not come from the same word “man”. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/26 "2009-05-07T17:38:46Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > Blackberrys. > > Irregular plurals are used for the common meaning of the word, but not for names or nonliteral/stylistic uses of the word. Hence trees have leaves but the team is the Toronto Maple Leafs, people have lives but some paintings are still lifes. Agree completely. See Stephen Pinker’s book, Words and Rules. That said, I fully expect it will usually be “Blackberries”. Sigh. As for the Toronto Maple Leafs, I always thought is Toronto Make Believes. (They make believe they are a hockey team.) ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/27 "2009-05-07T19:12:48Z")
To be technical, it’s BlackBerry, not Blackberry. ---
**Author:** ![JerseyFrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@JerseyFrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyFrank)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/28 "2009-05-07T19:16:29Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > Lego block > Lego blocks > > Blackberry device > Blackberry devices > > I’m just sayin’. A bar bet settling phone call to Burger King confirmed that neither of these were correct: Whopper Juniors Whoppers Junior (nor any abbreviated variants) Whopper Jr.® sandwiches, FTW ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/29 "2009-05-07T19:19:45Z")
> [@JerseyFrank](#): > > A bar bet settling phone call to Burger King confirmed that neither of these were correct: > Whopper Juniors > Whoppers Junior > (nor any abbreviated variants) > > Whopper Jr.® sandwiches, FTW So, a customer asking for “Three Whopper Juniors” would be told, “Sorry, we don’t sell anything called that”? ---
**Author:** ![JerseyFrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@JerseyFrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyFrank)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/30 "2009-05-07T19:23:52Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > So, a customer asking for “Three Whopper Juniors” would be told, “Sorry, we don’t sell anything called that”? They would if I worked there. I’d say, “WTF? Why don’t you just be a man and order 1 Triple Whopper(R) Sandwich?” I’d say this even if he weren’t a man. Kidding aside, I should’ve read the entire thread instead of posting my pointless reply after reading post #2. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/31 "2009-05-07T19:31:33Z")
They claim they will only sell Whoppers Junior to attorneys general and mothers-in-law – though I’ll bet they’d give in to tirades from angered Sergeants Major. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/32 "2009-05-07T19:32:27Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Why would that surprise you? Because I… don’t have a good reason. I just rarely disagree with the holy Chicago Manual of Style. Merriam-Webster lists both plurals, but _Januaries_ is first. American Heritage lists only _Januaries_. The OED lists no plurals, but a quote: “Few Januaries have been preceded by such a week as Christmas, 1891” from that year [1892], and no instances of -ys. (No plurals at all under February.) English certainly allows various authoritative sources to differ, so I can’t say that either is wrong. It does seem that there are pretty strong cases for either plural in this case, though. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/33 "2009-05-07T19:45:37Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > Blackberrys. > > Irregular plurals are used for the common meaning of the word, but not for names or nonliteral/stylistic uses of the word. Hence trees have leaves but the team is the Toronto Maple Leafs, people have lives but some paintings are still lifes. Right, in fact the same rule explains other grammatical forms, such as the past tense: We say “I hung a picture”, but “the man was hanged by the neck until he was dead.” Or: “The bird flew out of the tree”, but “The baseball player flied out in the second inning.” Ed ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/34 "2009-05-07T19:58:48Z")
The plural of Blackberry is **mmmmmm, jam!** ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/35 "2009-05-07T20:16:38Z")
I see I am one of the late passersby here… It is pointless to appeal to standards for creating plurals when there are none, obviously. Because BlackBerry is a brand name and not the berry, the best way to create the plural is BlackBerrys. I suspect you will not find an opinion from RIM since they consider BlackBerry a brand name that should only be used as an adjective. Sent from one of my BlackBerries ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/36 "2009-05-07T20:23:39Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > Sent from one of my BlackBerries We saw that! ---
**Author:** ![riff\_raff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/97f17d/32.png) [@riff\_raff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/riff_raff)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/37 "2009-05-07T22:05:29Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > I call those things “mice”, and I will until people start calling animals of the _Mus_ genus “mouses”. – It’s the same word “mouse” for both. Someone does To quote Dr. Suess: “Then he did the same thing to the other Who’s houses Leaving crumbs much too small for the other Who’s mouses” I have an ancient VW microbus whose colour is Mango Green/Seagull Grey. When refering to the plural of this paint scheme of buses, I tend to write Mango’s rather than Mangoes. Just seems more correct for describing the bus rather than the fruit. Don’t know why. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/38 "2009-05-07T22:07:14Z")
In some odd way, I’m releaved to learn that there is debate about this, and not just me having a brain freeze. BTW, I lean towards BlackBerrys. Treating it as a proper noun/name. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/39 "2009-05-08T02:28:23Z")
> [@corvidae](#): > > Blackberri? or maybe blackberripodes. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654/40 "2009-05-08T02:51:52Z")
‘blackberry devices’ is anal, but ‘blackberry phones’ is ok. and FTR, it’s african-americanberry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-form-the-plural-of-blackberry/495654.md?page=3)