INFOWORLD GRIPE LINE BY ED FOSTER Bookmark this page

  
Replying To:
Virii?[ Parent ] (none / 0) (#53)
by Anonymous User on Tue Aug 31, 2004 at 10:36:39 AM PDT

VIRII? I don't think so. 'VIRII' is not listed as a word in Merriam-Webster's dictionary; neither in the printed dictionary nor in the online dictionary. Moreover, the entry for virus does not show a plural form; hence it is presumed to be a regular noun, that is, it forms its plural by adding -s or -es. So the plural of virus is viruses.
Quote from Explanatory Notes: "A plural for all standard nouns is shown in this dictionary if it is NOT formed regularly by adding -s or -es and changing a final -y, if present, to -i-: man... n. pl. men; mouse... n. pl mice;.... If there are two or more plurals, all are written out in full and are joined by or or also to indicate whether the forms are equal or secondary variants." (emphasis added)
An additional clue may be seen in the definition for the word virucide: An agent that kills VIRUSES.

[ Parent ]


Post Comment

You are not logged in. If you don't have a user account yet, by all means go make one! If you do have one, you can post as "yourself" by filling in your nickname and password below. Otherwise, your comment will be posted as Anonymous User.

Create Account
Nickname:
Password:

Post Comment: Post your comment below and then please answer the security question. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it does help deter spammers. -- Ed Foster
Subject:
Comment:

To post your comment, please answer the following security question:
 Which of the following is not a word?
Kansas, pFU2jE, MG, Jeep, Nebraska, Oregon
Allowed HTML: <A [HREF] [NAME]> <DT> <TT></TT> <OL></OL> <CITE></CITE> <CODE></CODE> <I></I> <UL></UL> <BR> <STRONG></STRONG> <BLOCKQUOTE [TYPE]></BLOCKQUOTE> <DD> <EM></EM> <P> <B></B> <LI> <DL></DL>
Menu
· create account
· faq
· search

Login
Make a new account
Username:
Password:

 HOME  NEWS  COLUMNS  BLOGS  PODCASTS  TECHNOLOGIES  TEST CENTER  EVENTS  CAREERS  IT EXEC-CONNECT   About Awards Contact Us 

Copyright © 2006, Reprints, Permissions, Licensing, IDG Network, Privacy Policy.
All Rights reserved. InfoWorld is a leading publisher of technology information and product reviews on topics including viruses,
phishing, worms, firewalls, security, servers, storage, networking, wireless, databases, and web services.

 ComputerWorld :: LinuxWorld :: Network World :: CIO :: PC World :: Darwin :: CMO :: CSO
IT Careers :: JavaWorld :: Macworld :: Mac Central :: Playlist :: GamePro :: GameStar :: Gamerhelp
ITWorld Canada :: Computerwoche :: Techworld UK :: tecChannel :: IDG.se :: IDG.no :: IDG.pl

create account | faq | search