Q: 'die', 'dice'

[Richard Coates]

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Dear Hist-Lingers,

Just to note that this odd plural occurs also in two words that have
lost the singular, and which themselves have taken over the singular
function: _lettuce_ and _truce_; i.e. just like _dice_ except that this
doesn't yet have the default plural.

I think it is curious that we dice with death and do not die with it. Few
English verbs are derived by conversion from a plural noun - the ones I can
think of are colloquial, perhaps British, and rude (e.g. _I've ballsed up_
`I've made a mistake', `fouled things up').

Richard Coates

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Richard Coates
School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences
University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK

Tel.: +44 (0)1273 678030 (secretary Jackie Gains)
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Email: richardc at cogs.susx.ac.uk

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