[Ads-l] hypercorrect pluralization of attributives

[Jonathan Lighter]

A CNN crawl - admittedly sometimes careless - identifies the late Edward
Albee as a "three-times Pulitzer Prize winner."

JL

On Mon, Feb 1, 2016 at 8:46 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: hypercorrect pluralization of attributives
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------------
>
> Here's one that's clearly unidiomatic as well as orthographically
> clumsy-looking. "SEAL team" is the normal form.
>
> 2012 N.Y. Times
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/movies/act-of-valor-
> film-with-active-duty-members-of-navy-seals.html
> :
>
> "Act of Valor" follows a SEALs team as it rescues an undercover agent in
> the Philippines [etc.].
>
> BONUS: it was Costa Rica, not the Philippines.
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, Mar 30, 2015 at 3:35 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: hypercorrect pluralization of attributives
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------------
> >
> > On Sun, Mar 29, 2015 at 8:03 AM, Jonathan Lighter <
> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > CNN is talking about "the Houthis rebels."
> > >
> > > I've recently heard "the movies industry."
> > >
> > > Plus (I hope you're sitting down) "the aircrafts industry."
> > >
> >
> > Reminds me of "three-feet-long stick," "ten-yards-long path,"
> > "eight-hours-long shift," etc.
> >
> >
> > --
> > -Wilson
> > -----
> > All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> > come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> > -Mark Twain
> >
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> >
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org