Elvises -> Elvi(i)

[Dave Hause]

And I have been periodically railing for several years at a series of
gynecologists who use "labia majora/minora" as a singular.  A few years ago
I looked at my surgical pathology database and found about fifty instances
of inappropriate plural, along with three corrct singulars, none used by
gynecologists.
Dave Hause, dwhause at jobe.net
Waynesville, MO
----- Original Message -----
From: "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>

Cf. "stewardi" for "stewardesses". Sometimes it's just a joke, but ....

>So this is a kind of double-barreled one here: the evidently

Plural of "virus": "viri" or "virii"? Of course it is neither,
facilitating measurement for this one word, maybe. "Virii" seems to
be the more popular based on quick naive Google.

In theory "octopi" vs. "octopii" is similar but I guess "octopi" has
been used so much that it's become sort of 'correct'.

I don't know exactly why "-ii" often occurs instead of "-i". Is the
_typical_ person wrongly doubling the "i" really the person who has
such things as "genii" in his everyday vocabulary?

Another common event: double pluralization, e.g., "diverticulum" >
plural "diverticula", taken as 1st declension singular, > plural
"diverticulae".

Another: wrong singularization, e.g., "mitochondria" >
"mitochondrium", "nares" > "nare".

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