Turducken & Churkendoose; WD-40

Arnold M. Zwicky zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU
Thu Nov 15 17:06:02 UTC 2007


On Nov 15, 2007, at 7:07 AM, dInIs wrote:

> arnold,
>
> I never thought of it, but since the "chicken" part of it was not
> always highlighted for me, I think I reacted to the -en as plural. (
> I know; I never hear "one turduck," which would have sealed this for
> me.)

this makes sense.

no webhits for "one turduck", one relevant webhit for "a turduck", but
it's in "a turduck or turken", suggesting that these are two-part
creations, not three-part creations like the original turducken.

the blogger also uses "turgoose" as a mass noun ("Turgoose would be
another story"):

   http://grocerytrekker.blogspot.com/2006/10/turducken.html

two relevant hits for "two turducken".

a possible further contribution to "turducken" as plural is the
surprisingly widespread use of foodstuff nouns as zero plurals, as we
noted in a discussion here last year that started with "croissant".

arnold

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