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aka Dave
Joined: 02 May 2008
Location: Down by the river
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 Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:14 pm Post subject: Comupter "mice" or "mouses" |
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| I was just correcting an essay that required a plural correction of the sing. "computer mouse." A google search on the correct usage seemed inconclusive. I think I'd go with "mouses" just because "mice" sounds creepy. |
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TheChickenLover
Joined: 17 Dec 2007
Location: The Chicken Coop
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| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:17 pm Post subject: |
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I all seriousness....if you can't answer that question you have no business in this country teaching anything.
Chicken |
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aka Dave
Joined: 02 May 2008
Location: Down by the river
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| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:21 pm Post subject: |
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I realize grammatically it should be mice, but there as far as I could tell there wasn't dominant usage establlished.
http://www.cyberwalker.com/article/302
Theoretically, you could have two different plurals for the two different nouns if usage dictated that most people were using "mouses". |
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sarbonn
Joined: 14 Oct 2008
Location: Michigan
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| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:38 pm Post subject: |
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| That's actually a trickier one than it appears because I don't think there's a standardization for it yet. What one student of mine once wrote was "computer mouse devices" to cover the plural part. I gave her credit for ingenuity. |
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cruisemonkey
Joined: 04 Jul 2005
Location: Hopefully, the same place as my luggage.
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| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:44 pm Post subject: |
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 I hate mices to pieces. |
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SharkDiver
Joined: 08 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:57 pm Post subject: |
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| TheChickenLover wrote: |
I all seriousness....if you can't answer that question you have no business in this country teaching anything.
Chicken |
Nor do you judging by your own writing. |
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Seon-bee
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
Location: ROK
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| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 12:08 am Post subject: |
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The jury is still out on this one.
Why not consider it uncountable. Mouse means manually-operated user-select equipment. Equipment is uncountable. Sounds funny to me ears though.
What about using mouses, so that it is not confused with the rodent? This reasoning sounds good, but who the hell is going to confuse the two, since the meaning wil be obvious in the context.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_(computing)
says both are being endorsed. But Wiki also noted that mouse devices is good, too.
Websters says the plural of mouse is mice in all instances.
Common usage should really dictate the correct plural. Both are being used. So, I'll take both as correct if I happen to be grading papers. |
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JabberJabber
Joined: 02 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 12:14 am Post subject: |
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| Seon-bee wrote: |
The jury is still out on this one.
Why not consider it uncountable. Mouse means manually-operated user-select equipment. Equipment is uncountable. Sounds funny to me ears though.
What about using mouses, so that it is not confused with the rodent? This reasoning sounds good, but who the hell is going to confuse the two, since the meaning wil be obvious in the context.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_(computing)
says both are being endorsed. But Wiki also noted that mouse devices is good, too.
Websters says the plural of mouse is mice in all instances.
Common usage should really dictate the correct plural. Both are being used. So, I'll take both as correct if I happen to be grading papers. |
i wonder if that's what chicken meant by "if you can't answer that question, you have no business teaching in this country(edited)"
ha |
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jinks
Joined: 27 Oct 2004
Location: Formerly: Lower North Island
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| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 1:24 am Post subject: |
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| Seon-bee wrote: |
The jury is still out on this one.
Why not consider it uncountable. Mouse means manually-operated user-select equipment. Equipment is uncountable. Sounds funny to me ears though.
What about using mouses, so that it is not confused with the rodent? This reasoning sounds good, but who the hell is going to confuse the two, since the meaning wil be obvious in the context.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_(computing)
says both are being endorsed. But Wiki also noted that mouse devices is good, too.
Websters says the plural of mouse is mice in all instances.
Common usage should really dictate the correct plural. Both are being used. So, I'll take both as correct if I happen to be grading papers. |
I agree, but my preference is mouses. Mouse devices is good, too. Really though, how often do we talk about a computer mouse in the plural? |
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esetters21
Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 1:26 am Post subject: |
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| TheChickenLover wrote: |
I all seriousness....if you can't answer that question you have no business in this country teaching anything.
Chicken |
And nor do you with that response ChickenLicker. |
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Draz
Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Location: Land of Morning Clam
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| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 12:14 pm Post subject: |
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| It never occurred to me to wonder about this. I say mice, because it sounds better than "mouses". |
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chickenpie
Joined: 24 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 12:48 pm Post subject: |
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| TheChickenLover wrote: |
I all seriousness....if you can't answer that question you have no business in this country teaching anything.
Chicken |
So, you replied to a thread you obviously know nothing about, without an answer?
Nice.
If you did have an answer, what was it? |
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Korussian
Joined: 15 Sep 2007
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Thiuda
Joined: 14 Mar 2006
Location: Religion ist f�r Sklaven geschaffen, f�r Wesen ohne Geist.
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| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:05 pm Post subject: Re: Comupter "mice" or "mouses" |
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| aka Dave wrote: |
| I was just correcting an essay that required a plural correction of the sing. "computer mouse." A google search on the correct usage seemed inconclusive. I think I'd go with "mouses" just because "mice" sounds creepy. |
According to Steven Pinker in his 1999 book Words and Rules the use of 'mouse' as a input device for computers originated with the computer scientist Douglas Engelbardt in 1965. He goes on to state that "[m]any people are squeamish about referring to more than one of them as mice. In 1992 I surveyed several dozen mail-order ads and found that many used plural headings for every category of hardware but the mouse, like this: Desktops-Notebooks-Monitors-Printers-Keyboards-Mouse. A few others played it safe by advertising Pointing Devices or Input Devices. More than half did use mice; none used mouses. Micephobia is beginning to abate, and today mice is common in stores, magazines, and web pages []. Many people, though, still wince at mice, though not to the point of using mouses, which remains rare among native speakers. (p. 174)"
He accounts for this phenomenon by drawing a parallel between other irregular plural nouns being used in a metaphorical manner, for example:
"There was a cottage at the foot of every mountain." --> "There were cottages at the feet of the mountains."
"The page number is printed at the foot of each page." --> "Page numbers are printed at the feet of the pages."
According to Pinker, we get the same queasiness that surrounds computer mice, because the kind of plurality of the original word (mouse & foot) doesn't match the plurality of the metaphor. Rather than go into detail, I suggest picking up a copy of the book and reading pp. 174-178. |
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bobranger
Joined: 10 Jun 2008
Location: masan
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| Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
TheChickenLover wrote:
I all seriousness....if you can't answer that question you have no business in this country teaching anything.
Chicken
So, you replied to a thread you obviously know nothing about, without an answer?
Nice.
If you did have an answer, what was it? |
yes please tell us Chicken |
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