hypercorrect pluralization of attributives

[Charles Doyle]

Perhaps the form "craps game" makes it seem less like--you know--CRAP.

Hypercorrectional plurization as a device of euphemism?

--Charlie

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---- Original message ----
>Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 20:26:18 -0400
>From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>Subject: Re: hypercorrect pluralization of attributives
>
>I now see that Google Books has hundreds of exx. of "craps game" going back several decades, but that doesn't make it any less hypercorrect.
>
>I.e., ridiculous.
>
>JL
>
>On Sun, Mar 29, 2009 at 8:21 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>> The first of these I noticed was "the jobs market," sometime around 2002.
>>
>> This week's New Yorker contains a review of "Guys & Dolls" in the course of which John Lahr (easily old enough to know better) writes not only "craps game" but also "floating craps game."
>>
>> Copy editing gone berserk, sez I.
>>
>> JL

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