# Subject/Verb agreement for Labia **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 22, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242 "2005-11-22T15:00:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/1 "2005-11-22T15:00:10Z")
[list=a] [li]Her labia _are_ hanging out and flapping in the wind[/li][li]Her labia _is_ hanging out and flapping in the wind[/li][/list] I’ve always thought of labia as paired (two pairs when making the distinction between majora and minora) but often I hear people use the singular formation of the verb when talking about labia. I think it should be “Labia _are_”. Am I wrong? Is it “Labia _is_”? ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/2 "2005-11-22T15:02:33Z")
Labia is the plural of _Labium_/. Labia = Lips. Are. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/3 "2005-11-22T15:09:44Z")
I see your question has been answered, but I just had to stop in anyway to thank you for putting into my brain the image of a woman with labia like mainsails, powering a boat with her genitals. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/4 "2005-11-22T17:34:30Z")
I’ll take “Grammar lessons you wouldn’t expect to find in a grade school textbook” for $1000, Alex. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/5 "2005-11-22T17:38:51Z")
“Labia” is indeed plural in Latin, and so should be plural in English. However, there are some Latin plurals that move towards being singular in English, like “data” and “media”. The word “agenda” has gone all the way: it’s now just singular in English. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/6 "2005-11-22T19:20:18Z")
At the risk of offending **samclem** for witticisms instead of staid answers, may I offer the suggestion that labia will always agree with bilingual fricatives. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/7 "2005-11-23T08:37:21Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > there are some Latin plurals that move towards being singular in English See that’s the tricky part. Although I personally think of labia as plural, referring distinctly to each individual “labium” (a word which no one uses ever), is it also possible that labia has become a singular- but a _collective_ noun, at once referring to all the dangly bits grouped together as a unit??? Consider the world of piercing _\_. I’ve never heard a woman decorated in such a way explain that she has her _labium_ pierced. She’ll say that she has her _labia_ pierced even if she decorated only the East Wing leaving the West Wing vacant. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/8 "2005-11-23T09:36:31Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > I’ll take “Grammar lessons you wouldn’t expect to find in a grade school textbook” for $1000, Alex. Damn your eyes. I have sore throat, and that laughter _hurt_. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/9 "2005-11-23T11:21:24Z")
What is the sound of one labium flapping in the wind? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/10 "2005-11-23T11:50:30Z")
What is the sound of one labium clapping? A slap in the face! ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/11 "2005-11-23T12:09:22Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > What is the sound of one labium flapping in the wind? If no one was there to hear it would it make a sound? (assumes the owner is deaf I guess). Gotta keep this baby near the top !! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/12 "2005-11-23T13:07:45Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > At the risk of offending **samclem** for witticisms instead of staid answers, may I offer the suggestion that labia will always agree with bilingual fricatives. 🙂 _Bi_lingual? :eek: ---
**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:** [November 23, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/13 "2005-11-23T13:28:26Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > At the risk of offending **samclem** for witticisms instead of staid answers, may I offer the suggestion that labia will always agree with bilingual fricatives. 🙂 Shouldn’t that be [bilabial](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilabial_consonant) ? – even if the labia involved here are those of the mouth, not the genitalia. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/14 "2005-11-23T13:43:36Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Shouldn’t that be [bilabial](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilabial_consonant) ? – even if the labia involved here are those of the mouth, not the genitalia. No, I think **Polycarp** was pursuing the “agreeable friction” angle here. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/15 "2005-11-23T13:54:19Z")
> [@What the .... ?!?!](#): > > Gotta keep this baby near the top !! 😃 If the joke posts will keep this Thread alive long enough for someone to address the “collective noun” question in **Post #7** , then please be my guest and joke away! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/16 "2005-11-23T14:34:52Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > What is the sound of one labium flapping in the wind? Phlbbbmbmbpppppp… ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/17 "2005-11-23T14:38:44Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > I’ve never heard a woman decorated in such a way explain that she has her _labium_ pierced. She’ll say that she has her _labia_ pierced even if she decorated only the East Wing leaving the West Wing vacant. Women I know with “below the waist non-clit piercings” refer to them without using the term labia. Most say, “I have my lip(s) pierced” or “I have my pussy lip(s) pierced”. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/18 "2005-11-23T14:41:34Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Shouldn’t that be [bilabial](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilabial_consonant) ? – even if the labia involved here are those of the mouth, not the genitalia. _lingua_ = ‘tongue’, so it’s difficult to be certain. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/19 "2005-11-23T15:24:40Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Although I personally think of labia as plural, referring distinctly to each individual “labium” (a word which no one uses ever), is it also possible that labia has become a singular- but a _collective_ noun, at once referring to all the dangly bits grouped together as a unit??? Yeah, that’s probably an accurate summary of common usage. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242/20 "2005-11-23T15:43:00Z")
This sounds like a question for Charles Harrington Elster, who’s book [What in the Word?](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0156031973/102-9870001-8392147?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance) proved to be invaluably entertaining during a recent 20 hour marathon drive from Minnesota to Georgia. The soundbyte Q&A format made it perfect for my driving-distracted attention span as my girlfriend read it outloud. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subject-verb-agreement-for-labia/332242.md?page=2)