Re: OT - What is the plural of "virus" anyway?

From: Juha Siltala (jsiltala_at_gmx.net)
Date: 09/17/03 

Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 05:55:43 GMT

In article <bk7scc$4fo$1@string.physics.ubc.ca>, Bill Unruh wrote:
> Barry OGrady <god_freee_jones@hotmail.com> writes:
>
> ]virii
>
> Depends of if you think it is an English or a Latin word. In the latter
> case, see above, in the former, viruses.
> There are loads of words which have a latin origin (or german or Indian
> or whatever) whose plural is formed in the English, not Latin, German.
> Indian, Swahili, or whatever fashion.
> To borrow a word is not to enslave yourself to the peculiarities of
> grammer of the language from which the word was borrowed.

So, when you borrow the word "virus" into English, you have two choices:
1) you can form the plural in the normal English way, "viruses", 2) or you
can destroy both the Latin and English rules and make a bastardization
like "virii", which is not correct in any language known to man? 

-- 
Juha Siltala
http://www.edu.helsinki.fi/activity/people/jsiltala/