# What's the plural of "danish" (pastries)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-plural-of-danish-pastries/262617 "2004-09-01T19:13:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Iacob\_Matthew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Iacob\_Matthew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iacob_Matthew)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-plural-of-danish-pastries/262617/1 "2004-09-01T19:13:39Z")
So, today on the way back from lunch, I pass by the little semi-cafe in the lobby of my dormatory. They have many sugary delights, and the guy I’m with asks “what’s the plural of danish?” Danishes just sounds wrong, and Dansk, while sounding familiar, probably has nothing to do with it. So, I’m stumped, and I know it’ll be nagging at me for the rest of the week unless I can figure something out. I beg for your help. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-plural-of-danish-pastries/262617/2 "2004-09-01T19:23:24Z")
Merriam Webster gives the plural as simply “Danish”. “Gimme a dozen Danish” sounds right to me. Of course, if you don’t like that, you can just say “Gimme a dozen of those Danish pastries.” Main Entry: 2Danish Function: noun 1 : the Germanic language of the Danes 2 plural Danish : a piece of Danish pastry ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-plural-of-danish-pastries/262617/3 "2004-09-01T19:26:01Z")
“a dozen Danish” sounds right to me. The AHD says that either Danish or Danishes is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Iacob\_Matthew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Iacob\_Matthew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iacob_Matthew)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-plural-of-danish-pastries/262617/4 "2004-09-01T19:30:19Z")
Damn, you guys are fast… Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-plural-of-danish-pastries/262617/5 "2004-09-01T19:36:04Z")
I’ve always used “I’ll have that Danish, and also that other Danish.” ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-plural-of-danish-pastries/262617/6 "2004-09-01T19:42:20Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I’ve always used “I’ll have that Danish, and also that other Danish.” I don’t want to be behind you in line when you’re ordering a dozen. ---
**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:** [September 1, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-plural-of-danish-pastries/262617/7 "2004-09-01T20:25:37Z")
I’d go with “danishes”, since that’s the normal way to make a plural from a word ending with “sh”. “Danish” is originally an adjective, so it doesn’t have a plural form, but when you turn it into a noun, with a differnt meaning from the original, it would follow the normal rules for nouns. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-plural-of-danish-pastries/262617/8 "2004-09-01T20:31:07Z")
Danes?? ;j ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-plural-of-danish-pastries/262617/9 "2004-09-01T20:57:53Z")
“Pastries”- as in “Give me a dozen Danish pastries”. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-plural-of-danish-pastries/262617/10 "2004-09-01T22:30:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Dansk, while sounding familiar, probably has nothing to do with it. _Dansk_ is the Danish word for _Danish_, as in _Danish_ customs. The weird thing is that in Denmark, Danish patries are called the Danish equivalent of “Vienna Bread.” ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-plural-of-danish-pastries/262617/11 "2004-09-02T00:36:09Z")
I think this illustrates one of the drawbacks of turning an adjective into a noun.