SPUG: Re: Re: Thanks :)

Brian Hatch bri at ifokr.org
Mon Jun 14 10:10:41 CDT 2004



> > But back to the virus question. 195 virii have been blocked. Here is 
> 
> Is that the common plural being used in SA circles? For the
> benefit of those amongst you who were /not/ *tortured by nuns* in
> your early years, allow me to point out that changing a -us
> ending to an -i is NOT the universal way of forming the plural of
> a Latin noun. It depends on the *declension* (principally 4th vs
> 2nd), which is why stimulus -> stimuli, but apparatus ->
> apparatuses. When in doubt, check a dictionary!

I think it's a generational thing - for some reason, folks Dan
and my age were taught it is always the right way to change
singular '\w+s' to a plural noun.  Maybe it was a bad understanding
of latin (though no one told us it had anything to do with latin)
or maybe it was just the trendy thing to do.  It does sound cool,
but it's not right.

virii was in common usage 5-10 years ago, now most are starting
to correct course back to viruses as is accurate.

-- 
Brian Hatch                  "You know how seriously
   Systems and                 I take 'professional
   Security Engineer           responsibility.'"
http://www.ifokr.org/bri/

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