# I hate Greek/Latin plurals, or to hell with "fora"! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 29, 2002, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279 "2002-04-29T13:27:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/1 "2002-04-29T13:27:52Z")
Fora. I _loathe_ this word. I realize that “fora” seems to be the word of choice ‘round these parts, but what the hell is wrong with good ol’ Angol-Saxonized “forums”? God, if I even dare _try_ to use the word “fora” in a conversation with most of my friends, I’d be slapped silly for being a pretentious twit. I mean, somebody even used the phrase “every fora.” If you’re gonna be pedantic, at least realize that “every” modifies a singular noun. Yuck. It’s ugly. It’s jarring to hear such a sudden rise of diction in speech. Fora, be gone! Secondly, there are no “penii” nor are there “octopi.” It’s “penes” and “octopodes” ([dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) be damned!) if you’re gonna be pedantic. “Octopus” is a Greek word. (Although, to be fair, it is used in New Latin, and I suppose “octopi” might be correct in that sense.) But that’s not the point. I don’t wanna hear the proper Greek and Latin plurals. I’m not friggin’ speaking Greek or Lating with you. Hell, do we use German, Polish, Turkish, etc… plurals in words derived from those languages? What’s wrong with good ol’, simple “-s” or “-es”? ---
**Author:** ![Yue\_Han](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/eada6e/32.png) [@Yue\_Han](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yue_Han)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/2 "2002-04-29T13:40:23Z")
English has an inferiority complex with regard to Latin. This is the same reason you’re supposed to not split infinitives. You _can’t_ split infinitives in Latin because it’s all one damn words, so long ago some pesky grammarians invented the infinitive splitting rule from wholecloth so no one could remind them that they weren’t speaking Latin. –John ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/3 "2002-04-29T13:56:37Z")
Personally, I’ve always felt that adding “es” to pluralize words ending in “s” is awkward. I think saying “Man, getting to the beach from here is a bitch. I’l have to take 3 different busi.” just sounds cooler. 😃 Sua ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/4 "2002-04-29T14:05:38Z")
“Busi”? Surely, you mean “three different **bi** ”. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/5 "2002-04-29T14:33:07Z")
You are correct that ‘every fora’ is incorrect usage. I believe you are referring to me here, and I apologize for the error. As for the rest: get over it.😉 Just as it is with antennae and media (plural for antenna and medium respectively,) ‘fora’ is an accepted plural in the English lexicon. If we started eliminating usages of Latin origin, there would be precious little left. [and yes, I realize English is not a Romance language, but it does borrow heavily from Latin.] ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Baroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/76d3ee/32.png) [@Billy\_Baroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Baroo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/6 "2002-04-29T14:42:17Z")
You’d better stop saying “data” then. To maintain consistency, you need to go on and on about how we should say “datums” to avoid that dreaded pretentiousness. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/7 "2002-04-29T14:49:09Z")
Well, except for here, I’ve never heard “fora” used in speech. Honestly. Yes, I do hang around intelligent people. Occassionally. And I hate “antennae” as well. It’s definitely “antennas” for me. “Mediums” would be okay, save it poses a problem for me. “Mediums” makes me think of psychics. And “media” has pretty much grown into its own word, which I believe one day will be acknowledged and treated as a singular. “Data” - similar to “media.” And it doesn’t sound pretentious since there really isn’t an accepted alternative. And “data” is also turning into a collective noun used with singular verbs. And I’m all for it. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/8 "2002-04-29T14:55:02Z")
According to my dictionary, “antennae” is the plural for insect antennae, “antennas” for TV antennas. Anyway, if you’re so over foreign plurals, I assume you’ll have no qualms about calling those Italian dishes “spaghettoes,”“tortellinoes,” and “spumonoes”. And **Hamish** asks, if there were no fora, what would the flauna eat? ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/9 "2002-04-29T14:58:16Z")
\ \ [sub]\[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/10 "2002-04-29T15:07:12Z")
“Flauna?” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/11 "2002-04-29T15:11:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > \*\*According to my dictionary, “antennae” is the plural for insect antennae, “antennas” for TV antennas. > > Anyway, if you’re so over foreign plurals, I assume you’ll have no qualms about calling those Italian dishes “spaghettoes,”“tortellinoes,” and “spumonoes”. > > And **Hamish** asks, if there were no fora, what would the flauna eat? \*\* Yeah, but those words entered the language in the plural. I don’t even know if in Italian you can refer to one spaghetto (but in Polish, it certainly is “one pierog, many pierogi.” But, as with spaghetti, how often do you speak of just one?) I don’t know. My particularl aversion is to the word “fora.” It just sounds so _wrong_ to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/12 "2002-04-29T15:15:30Z")
The fora and the flauna of the echosystem ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/13 "2002-04-29T15:26:37Z")
“Uno spago” is a string; “uno spaghetto” is a little string; “degli spaghetti” are little strings. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/14 "2002-04-29T15:33:24Z")
**Flauna** (n. pl.) – Derived from the French _flaneur_, this noun refers to young men of indeterminate sexuality loitering idly in hopes of encountering a witty remark not already made 50 years previously by Quentin Crisp. Or maybe not. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/15 "2002-04-29T15:37:04Z")
Fair enough, **matt** , but my point that these came into the language as plurals and are therefore expempt from Anglicized pluralization, stands. Other Italian words, like “pizza” came into English as singulars. Therefore, in the plural they’re “pizzas” not “pizze” or “pizzi” or however the Italians form their plural. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/16 "2002-04-29T20:10:13Z")
Fine, but for words like “antennae”, “media”, “data”, “concerti”, _et cætera_, we acquired _both_ the singular _and_ the plural from the other language. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/17 "2002-04-29T20:50:12Z")
Oh, on this subject… Folks, NOT every word that end in “us” is of Latin derivation. When a word ending in “us” is NOT of Latin derivation, you do NOT form the plural by putting “i” at the end. So… STOP using “hippopotami” as the plural of hippopotamus. The word comes from Greek. So, the plural should be “hippopotamuses.” No matter how awkward it sounds, USE it. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/18 "2002-04-29T21:28:42Z")
Astorian, my dictionary has “hippopotamus” passing through Latin on its way from Greek to English. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/19 "2002-04-29T21:30:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Billy Baroo \* > \*\*You’d better stop saying “data” then. To maintain consistency, you need to go on and on about how we should say “datums” to avoid that dreaded pretentiousness. \*\* And I suppose a certain obsolete, nauseating term of endearment should be “snooka”. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279/20 "2002-04-29T21:36:58Z")
An excellent suggestion, java, which I will implement immediately. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-greek-latin-plurals-or-to-hell-with-fora/106279.md?page=2)