The plural of weetabix" is ...

[Chris Waigl]

On 31 Aug 2010, at 15:22, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>
> Is the plural of weetabix "weetabices"?  (Or merely "weetabix", in
> which case one can't tell whether "I bought the kids weetbix" is
> singular, plural, or mess.)

Well, Weetabix is a cereal made by a company called Weetabix Ltd and comes in the form of biscuits that are individually called Weetabix, plural: Weetabix. If you're having family breakfast, the question "How many Weetabix do you take?" is relevant.

The Wikipedia article has no problem mixing mass and count use of the name. Maybe that's because of the collective authorship, but I've heard people switch back and forth in this style as well: "Weetabix are more typically served with milk (hot or cold) in a bowl [...]. They can also be toasted and topped with melted cheese, jam or nut butters. They are very light and absorbent and when soaked in milk can take on the texture of a light porridge. However, they retain a certain crunchiness for a while.[citation needed]
Weetabix is made from whole grain wheat and is high in fibre, with 3.8g of fibre in a 37.5g serving (2 biscuits)"

The company itself seems to prefer the mass use (not surprisingly), but otherwise use a certain amount of linguistic inventiveness with the intention of being funny (see http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4s6vn_oatabix-advert_shortfilms -- Oatibix advert).

Chris

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Chris Waigl -- http://chryss.eu -- http://eggcorns.lascribe.net
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