# Words that are commonly (and incorrectly) pluralized or "apostrophed" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 14, 2021, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251 "2021-06-14T16:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/141 "2021-07-19T01:19:30Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > It’s singular **and** plural. “Legos” is **never** correct. “Lego” as a bulk noun is also **never** correct. “Lego bricks” (and “Lego building sets”, etc.) **is** correct. In colloquial use, “Lego” or “Legos” are both fine. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/142 "2021-07-19T02:19:40Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > “Lego” as a bulk noun is also **never** correct. “Lego bricks” (and “Lego building sets”, etc.) **is** correct. > > In colloquial use, “Lego” or “Legos” are both fine. Depends on your variant of English. "Lego’ is a mass noun in pretty much all variants of English; however much of the stuff you have you just have Lego, never Legos. And you can’t have “a Lego”; what you have is a brick, a block or a piece. This is also how the The Lego Group treats the word it its English-language material. I think it’s only in AmE that “Lego” can be a count noun and, even there, it occurs almost exclusively in the plural. I don’t think that AmE speakers would say that “a Lego” is wrong, but that it’s not idiomatic. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/143 "2021-07-19T03:46:11Z")
> [@UDS1](#): > > This is also how the The Lego Group treats the word it its English-language material. Yes, that’s what I said. Lego is to be used as an [adjective, not a noun](https://www.lego.com/en-us/legal/notices-and-policies/fair-play/). So neither Lego nor Legos is correct when referring to bricks as far as the Lego Group is concerned. But as long as we aren’t being picky, then either one is correct depending on your dialect. > [@UDS1](#): > > I don’t think that AmE speakers would say that “a Lego” is wrong, but that it’s not idiomatic. No, that’s wrong. One Lego = one brick is completely idiomatic. Of course it’s a little rare that you ever have to refer to a single Lego, but “pick that Lego up off the floor” vs. “pick those Legos up off the floor” are both the normal way of phrasing things. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/144 "2021-07-19T06:01:57Z")
I’ve posted this before (in another thread, IIRC) but at my last school the British English teachers and American English teachers almost came to blows over the Logo / Logos question. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/145 "2021-07-19T07:01:17Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Yes, that’s what I said. Lego is to be used as an [adjective, not a noun](https://www.lego.com/en-us/legal/notices-and-policies/fair-play/). So neither Lego nor Legos is correct when referring to bricks as far as the Lego Group is concerned. That may be true as far as The Lego Group is concerned, but this merely tells us what they would like to be the case. Registering a trademark does not confer the kind of authority over language that The Lego Group might wish. As a trademark holder you can restrain a competitor from using your trademark unlawfully, but that’s the extent of your authority to control how the word is used. As long as we are not using the word to pass off our own products as the products of The Lego Group, you and I can use the word however we like. How do people use it? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, which reflects observed established usage, Lego is not an adjective but a noun (with the meaning of “a proprietary name for a children’s construction toy consisting of small interlocking plastic pieces, typically building blocks; such pieces collectively”). Like other nouns it can be used attributively — a Lego brick, a Lego set, a Lego house — but that doesn’t make it an adjective. (The OED does record “Lego-like” as a adjective and adverb for things that are similar to Lego.) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/146 "2021-07-19T08:08:40Z")
> [@UDS1](#): > > How do people use it? And in that sense, Legos is perfectly correct in the US. You can’t have it both ways. Either Lego/Legos are both wrong (according to the Lego Group) or both right (in actual use, depending on dialect). There’s no more right and wrong to the latter than whether the dialect is rhotic or whether organizations should be treated as plural or singular. This isn’t some quirky usage that a dozen people use. Hundreds of millions of people say Legos. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/147 "2021-07-19T08:36:30Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > And in that sense, Legos is perfectly correct in the US. You can’t have it both ways. Either Lego/Legos are both wrong (according to the Lego Group) or both right (in actual use, depending on dialect). There’s no more right and wrong to the latter than whether the dialect is rhotic or whether organizations should be treated as plural or singular. This isn’t some quirky usage that a dozen people use. Hundreds of millions of people say Legos. Sure. That’s what I’ve said all along. “Lego” is used differently in different variants of English. What is correct or accepted usage is variant-dependent; there is no reason for assigning an objective validity to one variant’s usage over that of another. So statements like “‘Lego’ as a bulk noun is never correct” need to be qualified; in almost all variants of English, it is correct. So far as I know there is no variant of English in which Lego is treated as an adjective in the way that The Lego Corporation would apparently like. It’s a noun in all variants, so far as I can see. The point of difference is whether it’s a mass noun or a count noun. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/148 "2021-07-19T08:42:30Z")
> [@UDS1](#): > > So statements like “‘Lego’ as a bulk noun is never correct” need to be qualified Then we are in violent agreement (you’ll note that I qualified my statements as well). I only emphasized the “never” to parallel @Shakester 's usage in my original response. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/149 "2021-07-23T10:52:42Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Of course it’s a little rare that you ever have to refer to a single Lego, but “pick that Lego up off the floor” vs. “pick those Legos up off the floor” are both the normal way of phrasing things. More likely " I stepped on a damn Lego" ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/150 "2021-07-25T02:02:13Z")
_"AaaYAAAAAAaaahhh…_ I stepped on a damn _Lego brand_ toy building brick, the brick for SERIOUS PLAY!™ (Serious Play and the Lego name are trademarked by the Lego Group of Companies, Copenhagen, Denmark). And it’s the brick for _SERIOUS PAIN, dammit!"_ ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2021, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/151 "2021-11-07T14:27:47Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > There’s also the perennial “Daylight Savings Time” or “Daylight Saving’s Time.” Correct: it’s [Daylight saving time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time). Even Gizmodo got it wrong: > **[19 States That Have Passed Permanent Daylight Saving Time and Why They...](https://gizmodo.com/18-states-that-have-passed-permanent-daylight-savings-t-1848005046)** > > States have decided to free themselves from clock chaos. They may not. Here is why. ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/152 "2021-11-07T20:51:50Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > @ASL_v2.0 You can pry “anyways” from my cold dead hands. 😛 > > I know it isn’t strictly proper, but I it sounds wrong to my ear when someone introduces or ends a sentence with “anyway.” I’ve noticed that Terry Gross (host of “Fresh Air”) consistently uses “anyways” instead of “anyway”. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/153 "2021-11-08T03:47:41Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > I’ve posted this before (in another thread, IIRC) but at my last school the British English teachers and American English teachers almost came to blows over the Logo / Logos question. They were arguing over ancient Greek? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/154 "2021-11-08T04:24:21Z")
Lego, damn autocorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/155 "2021-11-08T04:46:24Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > there’s Brussels sprouts, which most people seem to render as Brussel sprouts in print Myself, I never cared much for Brussel’s sprouts, and as far as I’m concerned, this guy Brussel can keep them. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/156 "2021-11-14T03:27:00Z")
> [@jerseymule](#): > > I’ve noticed that Terry Gross (host of “Fresh Air”) consistently uses “anyways” instead of “anyway”. digression That’s less noticeable than one of my friends, who is originally from Pennsylvania, saying “whenever” instead of “when.” like “I took that class whenever I was young.” I thought it was just her until I heard someone on a podcast recently do it too. /digression ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/157 "2021-11-14T03:42:21Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > who is originally from Pennsylvania There’s the key… I had a roommate from there who spoke a whole different language. He’d r **ed up** his room (clean) and put something on the **chimbly** (chimney, apparently also applied to the mantelpiece). Most notably, I learned they have a second-person plural: **Yins**. [Etymology; Scots-Irish in origin?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yinz) _ **“Yins comin’ with?”** _ That was Pittsburgh, farther west it might be Yuns. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/158 "2021-11-14T04:00:28Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > That’s less noticeable than one of my friends, who is originally from Pennsylvania, saying “whenever” instead of “when.” like “I took that class whenever I was young.” I think that would mean, for example, “I was young on Tuesdays and Thursdays and some holiday weekends, and on those days I took that class.” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/159 "2021-11-14T04:02:23Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I think that would mean, for example, “I was young on Tuesdays and Thursdays and some holiday weekends, and on those days I took that class.” I’ve told her that and she just rolls her eyes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251.md?page=7)