attributive freshman

[Jonathan Lighter]

I may have mentioned a while ago that "job market" is now routinely "jobs market" to newspeople.  "Stock market" hasn't changed yet.

  JL


FRITZ JUENGLING <juengling_fritz at SALKEIZ.K12.OR.US> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: FRITZ JUENGLING
Subject: Re: attributive freshman
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This has been a topic of conversation in our English Department for some
time. I am happy with freshman (and am also a German speaker). Do you
also want 'sophomores girls', 'juniors girls,' and 'seniors girls'?
Fritz J

>>> medievalist at W-STS.COM 11/2/2006 9:40 AM >>>
I'm curious as to others' responses about this use:

When I see "freshman" used attributively, I have the instinct to
decline it to agree with its noun in number. Does anyone else?

For example: when I see "freshman girls" I want to change it to
"freshmen girls." My second language is German, so I'm wondering if
this instinct is grounded in the native English syntax or is some
interference from a foreign language where we make adjectives agree
in number and case.

---Amy West

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