Arg! Latin Plurals!

…and I’m not referring to Spain or Mexico, either. I also can’t say “Roman plurals” because Rome is the country, not the language. So it’s Latin plurals. English has long been a language that borrows freely from other languages, but by now we should be used to the Latin borrowings; it’s been long enough.

Let’s start with yesterday, which was the summer solstice. (Usually it’s the 21st, but this year is a leap year.) We have a winter solstice, too, so that makes two solstices per year. It’s pronounced like an ordinary plural, not “solstiseez.”

Then there’s poor old tired out “data.” The singular is “datum,” but a collection of data is often thought of as a single thing, so “data” is often treated like a singular. The curmudgeon in me says alas. If you read Scientific American, though, you’ll find that they always get it right. For them, “data” always gets a plural verb.

Here’s another one people get wrong. The singular is simulacrum, plural is simulacra. But not here.

But as our diligent Weekend Editor, Emanuel Maiberg, highlighted in his comprehensive ranking of the new icons, the latest roll out threatens to shake up everything we know about suggestive cartoon simulacrums: [read the article for the rest.]

On to the word that stimulated this post in the first place: millennia. “Millennia” is a plural, folks! The singular is “millennium.” I ran into this word being misused by some folks who ought to know better. Here’s the quote:

Comets, meteors, and meteorites have been shooting across works of art for more than a millennia.

Harrumpf. The article itself is worth a look, though. Lots of good pictures of early representations of comets.