I’ve seen it here, and on other message boards. People who spell the plural of penis as penii.
That’s not how it’s fucking spelled!
My dictionary says penises, and “penises” looks better than “penii” does when you read it. Plus, it’s not spelled right.
You shouldn’t be allowed how to spell the plural of “penis” until you have more than one, yourself.
I always thought “penii” was a joke. Does anyone actually use “penii” in a serious, formal way?
Shouldn’t it properly be penes, anyway?
It’s been years since I’ve studied Latin, and I’m not sure if that word came up…
The plural of the Latin word penis is penes.
In English, penises is more common, but penes is also used (Steinbeck uses it in the first few pages of The Grapes of Wrath).
Penii is just a solecism.
(And while we’re at it, the plural of the Latin word virus is virus, not virii or any such silliness.)
**SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!!! **
The fight you’ve been waiting for: The English language versus Latan grammar in the fight to **END IT ALL!
BE THERE!**
Special appearance by The Pedantic Fools With Flamethrowers!
SUNDAY, SUNDAY SUNDAY!!!
[sub]So what’s the plural of “doofus”?[/sub]
Doofi. I’ve fairly sure I saw it in Calvin and Hobbes.
I used “penii” recently and I was just kidding. It’s like “boxen” for plural quantities of computers or “coffus” for a solitary cup of coffee.
Not to nitpick, but you really should work on your parallelism there. It probably should be “The English language versus the Latin language”
<d&r>
Sorry Matt, but the plural of virus is viruses. The virii thing pisses me off, and I see it here all the time.
I work in the biopharmaceutical industry, and I have never heard a professional in the industry refer to the plural of virus as anything but viruses.
It’s viruses people!
[sub]When you write “virus” repeatedly it look weird[/sub]
matt_mcl said what I came in to say. Oh well. The trick is that in latin there are different plural endings; sometimes it’s ‘i’, as in ‘magi’, sometimes it’s es, as in matt’s example, and other times it’s ‘us’.
Oh, and ProjectOmega,
Sure, as in, “I could really go for some penii pasta right now!”
Like I said: the plural of the Latin word virus is virus. I didn’t say anything about the English word.
Ahhh, my reading comprehension is not so good.
Sorry
My brother insists on saying “penii” and it angers me.
I scared myself once by saying “dominatrices” in casual conversation.
I know the correct plural is not “penii” but I like to say it because it sounds friendlier.
Small hijack: there were a pair of twins at my school called Doberenz, and the wee Latin expert (me! me!) started the trend of referring to both of them as the Doberi…eventually their own parents did, as well, as I recall…
Yes, I was the 'orrible kid in the back of the cinema who knew it was Romani ite domum…
So how is “penii” actually pronounced?
This thread makes me cry. I believe I’ll go look for a box of Kleenices.
Peen-eye? That’s how I say it.
If you all don’t stop squabbling I’ll bring down the penal code on your heads.