Comments on: Correct Usage

Question: Correct Usage

sgobbare — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 11:51:47 -0800

So there has been an invasion of portuguese man of war jellyfish locally.....

they're all gone now but the raging debate on local news has been describing them as portuguese man of war's or portuguese men of war. I am predisposed to #1 but I'm also doing the asking.....anybody?

By: Mwongozi

Mwongozi — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 11:55:07 -0800

The correct spelling is "Portuguese Man o' War", with apostrophe intact. However, it isn't actually a jellyfish, it's a Siphonophora.

It is named after the shape of the sail of a Man of war.

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 11:56:06 -0800

#2 seems more correct to me. When you see many "bird of paradise" flowers, do you say "bird of paradises" or "birds of paradise" ?

By: saladin

saladin — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 11:56:18 -0800

I've lived near the beach my entire life, and was a beach lifeguard for 9 years, and I've only ever heard the plural usage "Portuguese Man of War"; just like "moose", the singular and plural are the same, as far as I know.

By: sgobbare

sgobbare — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 12:06:24 -0800

Thank you, Mwongozi. So the plot thickens... Would that be Portuguese man o' war's or Portuguese men o' war?
Again, anybody....?

By: Mwongozi

Mwongozi — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 12:10:26 -0800

Well, it can't possibly be "men o' war", because that implies that its name is "man", and "o' war" is a description.

But it's not, "man o' war" as a whole is the name, so I'd say that the plural form is identical to the singular.

"Today I saw 20 Portuguese Man o' War."

"Sheep" is the same, for example. One sheep, many sheep.

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 12:10:27 -0800

Related: I've been told the plural of a Canada Goose is Canada Geese -- NOT "Canandian geese."

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 12:10:38 -0800

minus an "n" - duh.

By: small_ruminant

small_ruminant — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 12:14:30 -0800

I'll second saladin's version- it's what I've heard most often. Though occasionally I've heard Man O' Wars, come to think of it.

By: agropyron

agropyron — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 13:11:09 -0800

The plural for "man-of-war" is "men-of-war".

That listing is linked as a synonym for Portuguese Man o' War, so I assume the plural is Purtuguese Men o' War.

By: Mwongozi

Mwongozi — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 14:13:48 -0800

I respectfully disagree with the American Heritage Dictionary. :)

By: chrismear

chrismear — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 15:27:34 -0800

OED says 'men-of-war'.

By: Rash

Rash — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 18:49:54 -0800

Of course, Portuguese men-of-war.

And yes, davidmsc, their qualifier is always Canada, never Canadian.

And just as the pural is policemen and firemen, don't ever let me catch you calling a bunch of personal stereos anything but Walkmen.

By: Alt F4

Alt F4 — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 12:30:08 -0800

Going out on a limb here ... I think Chicago would say to rephrase the sentence, if at all possible.

By: alexei

alexei — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 16:03:12 -0800

Similarly: one passer-by, many passers-by.

By: chrismear

chrismear — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 04:51:03 -0800

One Whopper Junior; many Whoppers Junior.

By: Alt F4

Alt F4 — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 19:12:02 -0800

Now that we've resolved that one ...

Winnies the Pooh? Winnie the Poohs? Winnie the Pooh (plural)?

Ombudsmen? Ombudsesmen?

I know nobody's here. It's okay.