Subj : Old stuff
To   : mark lewis
From : Ardith Hinton
Date : Tue Mar 08 2022 23:48:44

Hi, Mark!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

ml>  i just wasn't sure of the proper pluralization form for 
ml>  "flu" and went with the more common usage of adding "es"...


           Ah.  I wasn't sure I'd ever seen it pluralized before, but I see no reason why it can't be.  Common usage varies from time to time & from place to place & YMMV.  When I get essentially the same answers from US + UK + Canadian sources I tend to regard the authors' findings as standard English.

           With words like "potato" & "octopus" the dictionary tells us how to pluralize them, and sometimes we do it by adding "-es".  If we add "-es" where it isn't needed, though, we may confuse other members of the audience....  :-Q




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

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