# What is the plural of "Apocalypse"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 11, 2020, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420 "2020-06-11T00:48:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/21 "2020-06-11T14:26:49Z")
The Suns of Tyranny’s “On The Road Again” features the line “Apocalypses come and go”, so that seems authoritative. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/22 "2020-06-11T14:34:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Ulfreida** : > > What I enjoy is when a word has two plurals which indicate a difference in meaning. For example fish is the plural of fish (how many fish did you catch?) except when talking about species, especially those kept in captivity (what fishes are in this tank?). It isn’t always used but I’ve read it enough times to think that it is a thing. Short, stocky bearded miners are always “dwarves”. Small main-sequence stars, especially those of K or M spectral class, are always “dwarfs”. ---
**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:** [June 11, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/23 "2020-06-11T14:38:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Short, stocky bearded miners are always “dwarves”. Small main-sequence stars, especially those of K or M spectral class, are always “dwarfs”. There’s also “antennas” vs “antennae.” The former seems to only refer to the devices that transmit or receive electromagnetic signals, while the latter applies to the protuberances on insects. I feel like there’s a few others of these English vs Latinate plurals where the English plural refers to the every-day object, and the Latinate refers to a more specialized, often scientific, meaning. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/24 "2020-06-11T15:57:30Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Need to know ASAP. Riley Finn, is that you? _ **Riley:** But you killed the… You did the thing with that… You drowned! And the snake?! Not to mention daily slayage of… Wow. **Buffy:** It’s no big, really. Hey, who wants ice cream? **Riley:** Buffy. When I saw you stop the world from, you know, ending, I just assumed that was a big week for you. It turns out I suddenly find myself needing to know the plural of apocalypse._ ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/25 "2020-06-11T16:13:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Short, stocky bearded miners are always “dwarves”. Small main-sequence stars, especially those of K or M spectral class, are always “dwarfs”. “Dwarves” was coined by J.R.R. Tolkien, due to his fondness for irregular word forms. In a letter to his publisher he called it “just a piece of private bad grammer”. It’s been adopted by later fantasy writers from Tolkien. In the same letter Tolkien also said “the real ‘historical’ plural of _dwarf_ is _dwarrows_, anyway: rather a nice word, but a bit too archaic. Still I rather wish I had used the word _dwarrow_.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/26 "2020-06-11T16:32:27Z")
Although, really, almost every other English word ending in F converts it to a V for a plural, so if anything, “dwarfs” is the irregular form. Scarves, knives, lives, staves, so why not dwarves? Come to think of it, there’s another one with different plurals in different contexts: Long hiking sticks are staves, but it’d be the staffs of the different departments. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/27 "2020-06-11T16:43:23Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > “Dwarves” was coined by J.R.R. Tolkien, due to his fondness for irregular word forms. In a letter to his publisher he called it “just a piece of private bad grammer”. It’s been adopted by later fantasy writers from Tolkien. Witness the Disney classic, _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_–released the same year as _The Hobbit_, and thus too early to be influenced by it. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/28 "2020-06-11T16:43:45Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Riley Finn, is that you? > > _ **Riley:** But you killed the… You did the thing with that… You drowned! And the snake?! Not to mention daily slayage of… Wow. > **Buffy:** It’s no big, really. Hey, who wants ice cream? > **Riley:** Buffy. When I saw you stop the world from, you know, ending, I just assumed that was a big week for you. It turns out I suddenly find myself needing to know the plural of apocalypse._ Heh…does thread owe its origin to the postcard thread where I mentioned that line in the card you sent me? ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/29 "2020-06-11T16:47:01Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > “Dwarves” was coined by J.R.R. Tolkien, due to his fondness for irregular word forms. In a letter to his publisher he called it “just a piece of private bad grammer”. It’s been adopted by later fantasy writers from Tolkien. > > In the same letter Tolkien also said “the real ‘historical’ plural of _dwarf_ is _dwarrows_, anyway: rather a nice word, but a bit too archaic. Still I rather wish I had used the word _dwarrow_.” Does he claim he coined it? Not in that letter (to Stanley Unwin, 15 October 1937): > [@](#): > > No reviewer (that I have seen), although all have carefully used the correct dwarfs themselves, has commented on the fact (which I only became conscious of through reviews) that I use throughout the ‘incorrect’ plural dwarves. I am afraid it is just a piece of private bad grammar, rather shocking in a philologist; but I shall have to go on with it. In fact, the OED has this lone cite in its entry for “dwarf”: “1818 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. 46 26 The history of Laurin, king of the dwarves.” ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/30 "2020-06-11T16:49:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Although, really, almost every other English word ending in F converts it to a V for a plural, so if anything, “dwarfs” is the irregular form. Scarves, knives, lives, staves, so why not dwarves? The counter-exception to this appears to be that the plural is regular for words that end it a double F. Several human corpses are, in slang, stiffs. Several enthusiasts are buffs. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/31 "2020-06-11T18:24:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Although, really, almost every other English word ending in F converts it to a V for a plural, so if anything, “dwarfs” is the irregular form. Scarves, knives, lives, staves, so why not dwarves? There’s “roof”, but Tolkien also mentioned that he liked “rooves” for the plural. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/32 "2020-06-11T18:32:50Z")
“Apocalypses” is considered correct, though I’ve never actually seen the plural form used. Some words and phrases are technically correct but avoided because they sound awkward. I would never say, “There are various apocalypses that are possible and have been discussed.” I would always say instead, “There are many different apocalyptic events that have been discussed because they could in fact occur.” ---
**Author:** ![FastDan1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fastdan1/32/427_2.png) [@FastDan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FastDan1)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/33 "2020-06-11T18:44:26Z")
I’ve never had the need to discuss more than one apocalypse at a time. 🙂 ---
**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:** [June 11, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/34 "2020-06-11T19:45:44Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > “Apocalypses” is considered correct, though I’ve never actually seen the plural form used. > > Some words and phrases are technically correct but avoided because they sound awkward. I would never say, “There are various apocalypses that are possible and have been discussed.” I would always say instead, “There are many different apocalyptic events that have been discussed because they could in fact occur.” If you search Google Books, you can find [plenty of plural usages](https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=apocolypses) of the word, often using its primary sense, which is that of a revelation, prophecy, vision. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/35 "2020-06-11T20:05:01Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Riley Finn, is that you? > > _ **Riley:** But you killed the… You did the thing with that… You drowned! And the snake?! Not to mention daily slayage of… Wow. > **Buffy:** It’s no big, really. Hey, who wants ice cream? > **Riley:** Buffy. When I saw you stop the world from, you know, ending, I just assumed that was a big week for you. It turns out I suddenly find myself needing to know the plural of apocalypse._ Nice catch. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/36 "2020-06-11T21:03:27Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > circuses as the plural of circus; nobody in their right mind would say circi). An odd bit about this: many of the times the English plural of circus is used, it’s part of the “bread and circuses” phrase. In Latin, the word used for circus games/events was different than the word for the physical circus ring that they were held in, an adjective used substantively, circensis, with the -ensis ending being the source of the -ese ending in English. Thus in Latin one speaks of “panem et circenses” (accusative plural, since that’s the form that the famous quote in which it derives from uses it) and should possibly be better translated as “bread and circus events”, although English has no problem using “circuses” to mean “circus events”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/37 "2020-06-11T22:40:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Although, really, almost every other English word ending in F converts it to a V for a plural, so if anything, “dwarfs” is the irregular form. Scarves, knives, lives, staves, so why not dwarves? One can only speculate on the what-ives of language. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/38 "2020-06-11T23:37:20Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > They may not even know the singular of loan words. Or anyone. What’s the singular of _zucchini_? (Hint: Trick question) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/39 "2020-06-11T23:44:22Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > Alumnus is a really interesting case, since its correct plural, alumni, is so frequent that it is now sometimes used in the singular too. Similar things happen in other languages borrowing from a language with different pluralization patterns. In Arabic the words ‘_ālim_ ‘scholar’ and \*tājir \*‘merchant’ have the broken plurals ‘_ulamā_’ and _tujjār_, respectively. But in Persian they often use these plural forms as singulars. Similar to _alumni_, speakers not recognizing a foreign plural form as plural. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/40 "2020-06-12T00:41:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Or anyone. What’s the singular of zucchini? (Hint: Trick question) Obviously a trick, since there’s never any such thing as just one of those. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420.md?page=3)