plural of "mongoose"

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
1

In a couple of threads people have said that my username makes them think of a mongoose (Rikki Tikki Tavi being the connotation, I suppose). And so I wonder…

What IS the plural of mongoose?

I’m usually able to get around the problem by either not talking about a mongoose at all or keeping the word in the singular… if there’s more than one mongoose, that’s exactly what I say. “There were three mon— three ---- more than one mongoose.” Or “There was a mongoose, and a mongoose, and a mongoose again.”

Would it be mongeese?
Mongoose?
Mongi?
Mongooses?
Eh?

2

I say Mongi. It’s kinda like Octopus = Octopi, but different.

3

polygoose

4

According to a reputable online dictionary, both mongooses and mongeese are acceptable.

5

Singular = mongoose

Plural = a bunch of those mean little snake-eating, rat-looking fuckers

6

According to tonight’s Jeopardy, Mongooses.

7

I’ll second that. Usually I say “a bunch o’ mong…err…critters.”

8

I’m doing it again:

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

9

Wonder what dictionary the guys at Jeopardy are using. Mongeese was deemed incorrect on tonight’s game.

10

If there was a baby one from a certain part of Asia, and it was nursing, would it be a guzzling Mongolian mongosling?

Christ. I need psychotherapy.

11

I would think it’s like moose and cattle, but who said it was supposed to be logical? Like they’ve said before, mongooses or mongeese.

Kitty

12

I can’t believe no one’s replied with the old joke:

A zookeeper wanted to get some extra animals for his zoo, so
he decided to compose a letter, the only problem, was that he didn’t know the plural of ‘Mongoose’.

He started the letter: “To whom it may concern, I need two
Mongeese.” No, that won’t work, he tried again: “To whom
it may concern, I need two Mongooses.” Is that right?

Finally, he got an idea: “To whom it may concern, I need a
Mongoose, and while you’re at it, send me another one.”

13

<posted on behalf of a friend of mine, who will go upstairs and get his own username after lurking over my shoulder.>

I think this should follow more of a french trend; if it’s “mon-goose” then it should be “mes-gooses”

14

In the spirit of the Eggs McMuffin vs Egg McMuffins thread: “Two of them mongoose critters.”

15

As I recall, the category was titled “American Heritage Plurals”. Guess the AH and the M-W people are at odds on this one.

16

I remember some newspaper story a while ago that kinda danced around the same question. Whoever wrote the story must not have known the answer either; the story mentioned “the mongoose problem” and “the ferret-like mammals”. Twas pretty amusing. :slight_smile:

17

you mean there’s actually a problem with mongooses or mongeese or whatever they are called in packs or herds or watever the friggin’ things form?

18

Good question. What is a group of mongooses called? A mongaggle?

19

rusty French vocabulary straining

Salut! Cool name you got there. :slight_smile:

Well… they don’t run wild through the streets, but they are common, and they can be pests. Especially so in the more rural areas of the island (I’m in Hawaii).
Wasn’t there a thread a while ago about them terms for bunches of animals?

20

http://trident.mcs.kent.edu/~mscherge/Other/animals.html

Unfortunately, there’s no term for mongeese… mongooses… mongii… whatever… listed here.