Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: "Mouses" o "mice"

Su ICLIt si sta parlando degli inglesismi al plurale in generale e
dei plurali inglesi irregolari.
Sappiamo che il plurale di topo in inglese è "mice".
Ma questo plurale vale anche per il mouse del pc?
Roger

 Ma questo plurale vale anche per il mouse del pc?
E, soprattutto, "topo senza coda" si dice "mouse cordless"?
-- 
Partecipa anche tu al nuovo (e unico) forum sul mystery shopping
http://mysteryshopping.forumup.it/

 
The plural of 'mouse' is 'mice,' whether it's animate or computer-related. 
Those without tails are 'cordless mice.'  'Cordless,' being the adjective, 
goes before the noun.
-- 
Joey from NY

 goes before the noun.
Grazie
Roger


I think Ragnarok was joking and used the Italian for cordless mice: we 
call them "mouse cordless".

 call them "mouse cordless".
I was joking when I asked for a "topo senza coda" too.. but the shop 
assistant looked at me badly..


 Ma questo plurale vale anche per il mouse del pc?
C'è chi per evitare il problema dice "mouse devices"... :-)

 Ma questo plurale vale anche per il mouse del pc?
si'

 Roger
Si'. Ad esempio sulla mia linux box ho il file  /dev/input/mice  ,
oltre a /dev/input/mouse0 e /dev/input/mouse1
Pleg

 oltre a /dev/input/mouse0 e /dev/input/mouse1
Ringrazio nuovamente tutti.
Qualcuno perï¿œ su ICLIt ha segnalato che il Merriam-Webster online
per il mouse del pc ammette il plurale "mouses"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mouse
Che valore ha questo dizionario-enciclopedia presso i madrelingua
inglesi?
Roger

 inglesi?
Piuttosto mi chiederei che valore abbia per i produttori e venditori di 
hardware, che tutto sommato decidono i nomi commerciali per quegli 
aggeggi. :-)

 
Not very useful, IMHO. My desktop M-W (dated 1999) only lists "mice" as the 
plural, even for computer mice. Somewhere between 1999 and today they decided 
to allow the non-standard, geek plural 'mouses.' I don't buy it.
The web site also lists 'irregardless' as "non-standard," where it's just 
outright "wrong."
I would take everything they offer with a grain of salt.
-- 
Joey from NY

 I would take everything they offer with a grain of salt.
So what's a good American English dictionary? not necessarily a digital one.
Ciao,
Enrico il Pentolaio.

 I would take everything they offer with a grain of salt.
I don't think they are saying "Do use 'irregardless'". They are 
explaining how it is sometimes used in speech, and how you can avoid it 
("Use regardless instead"). I think that's a useful bit of information.

 
I wonder if it includes other geek plurals like VAXen or boxen (as in "Unix
boxen"), unless they are too old; before geekness became popular....
G


):

I use the New Oxford American Dictionary (on line) or the American Heritage 
Dictionary. I do have Webster's Collegiate from 1999, but as soon as a paper 
dictionary is published it becomes outdated, so I prefer online references, 
with some reservations, vis-a-vis neologisms, since I tend to be a stuffy old 
f@rt. If I make up a word, it's great! If someone else does, it's bad! :)
-- 
Joey from NY

 boxen"), unless they are too old; before geekness became popular....
It doesn't even have VAX in the singular, let alone a plural of VAXen. It has 
box, of course, but in other contexts, with the plural 'boxes.'
It doesn't have 'cybercafe' either, but at least it has 'cyber-' as a prefix.
I haven't used that dictionary in years and I should probably donate it 
somewhere.
I don't use my Harper Collins Italian College Dictionary any more either, 
since I have Garzanti Linguistica at my fingertips.
-- 
Joey from NY

 outright "wrong."
I guess the difference between "non-standard" and "outright wrong" is
that native speaker *do* actually use the former with a greater
frequency than ascribable to typos and slips of the tongue, in which
case "irregardless" is not outright wrong.


Not just in speech and casual writing, but in books too: some 16,000 
occurrences in Google Books (even if many just discuss the word 
itself).
Besides, I understand that it is used humorously at times.