First It Was: "Sawn-Off Words," Now It's: "The Land of Lost Singulars!"
By Maggiepie
@Maggiepie (7816)
United States
December 24, 2009 1:55am CST
Before I begin, I owe a thank you to Elic, who long ago invented "The Land of Lost Positives," from whence derived the parody title for this thread. So, thanks, Elic! 
(You might want her to give you a list of her "lost positives." I recall one off the top of my head. We have the negative--"uncouth"--but where are the "couth" folks?
Anyhow, "lost singulars." I'll give you a short list. See if you can think of others!
SUDS...Well? Who ever heard of a soap sud?? Hard to get anything clean when you only have one sud! And yet, I have seen one soap bubble. And aren't bubbles the "suds" in question?
ALMS...What person is so miserly he would only give a poor beggar one alm? Surely Scrooge fits that category!
GLASSES...& monocle doesn't count. 
Where is the person wearing only one glass? Whoever, I'll bet he or she is a white-coated lab geek with a pocket protector! :)
NEWS...Surely even on a slow news day they have more than one story! But if the day came, say in a small town newspaper, that they really only had one item ("Farmer So-&-So's Barn Burns Down!"), wouldn't it be cheating to say that was news, plural?
BANNS...Yes, that word refers to the announcement of an upcoming marriage. Some churches (my own included) have the announcement repeated several times, so there, I understand the plural. Not all churches do, however, so why don't those just announce a bann on the future nuptials?
PANTS...Okay, this one, I admit, is iffy. Some people do say of their trousers' legs, "...my left PANT leg," but come on, haven't you heard far more frequently, "...my pants leg is torn?"
Okay, everyone! Start thinking!
Maggiepie
'SAY 'MERRY CHRISTMAS!'"
(You might want her to give you a list of her "lost positives." I recall one off the top of my head. We have the negative--"uncouth"--but where are the "couth" folks?
Anyhow, "lost singulars." I'll give you a short list. See if you can think of others!
SUDS...Well? Who ever heard of a soap sud?? Hard to get anything clean when you only have one sud! And yet, I have seen one soap bubble. And aren't bubbles the "suds" in question?
ALMS...What person is so miserly he would only give a poor beggar one alm? Surely Scrooge fits that category!
GLASSES...& monocle doesn't count. Where is the person wearing only one glass? Whoever, I'll bet he or she is a white-coated lab geek with a pocket protector! :)
NEWS...Surely even on a slow news day they have more than one story! But if the day came, say in a small town newspaper, that they really only had one item ("Farmer So-&-So's Barn Burns Down!"), wouldn't it be cheating to say that was news, plural?
BANNS...Yes, that word refers to the announcement of an upcoming marriage. Some churches (my own included) have the announcement repeated several times, so there, I understand the plural. Not all churches do, however, so why don't those just announce a bann on the future nuptials?
PANTS...Okay, this one, I admit, is iffy. Some people do say of their trousers' legs, "...my left PANT leg," but come on, haven't you heard far more frequently, "...my pants leg is torn?"
Okay, everyone! Start thinking!
Maggiepie
'SAY 'MERRY CHRISTMAS!'"5 responses
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
24 Dec 09
I know next to nothing about Greek, so that was news to me! I do know a lot of people here mistakenly think "kudos," data," & "media" are all singular, so I kind of expect someone to chime in with "kudo" as a "lost" singular, especially since one hears such blunders as, "the media wants," or "the media didn't," & even, "that data is missing." I doubt most folks here are aware of the word "datum," the singular of data, & I'm afraid "medium," to most Americans, only means "psychic person!" If only schools bothered to actually teach people any more! I despair of that happening on any wide-spread basis, in the rest of my lifetime, at least...
I don't suppose you'd mind explaining--if you know!--why everything in Greek is plural? I find that very puzzling! 
Anyway, Merry Christmas!
Maggiepie
"SAY 'MERRY CHRISTMAS!'"
I don't suppose you'd mind explaining--if you know!--why everything in Greek is plural? I find that very puzzling!
Anyway, Merry Christmas!
Maggiepie
"SAY 'MERRY CHRISTMAS!'"@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
24 Dec 09
Well I'll try but sleepy, long drive earlier. It took me ages to get my head round it actually but each adjective for instance has three genders then each of these is pluralised. Basic words which we only use in the singular in English have plurals here but now I try to think of examples they all escape me. Fish is a good example though, as is bread, we don't say breads as a plural in English but we do in Greek. Salt is another one. Basically every word here has a plural, plus every adjective. Sometimes it just does not make sense to have a plural but they have one.
Now when you speak of medium I automatically think of average not a psychic. I really should have answered this one when more awake. Maybe I just need a coffee as it's not that late yet - I blame the traffic lights which only ever allow four cars through before changing again. We don't have many but when we do they cause the most dreadful hold ups.
1 person likes this
@minx267 (15527)
• Hartford, Connecticut
24 Dec 09
LOL. love it.. First let me say it is really hard to THINK at this time of night.
I don't know about you but I always say Scissors - even though it is only one item.
I think I may have heard some refer to them as a scissor but it just sounds weird to me.
And how about hops (as in the kind you brew with), granted you can have just one I am sure. But as with the suds, what good is one hop?
that's all I can come up with at this time.. but thanks this is going to keep me up all night.
ps. that is not a bad thing as I work third shift so anything keeping me awake is a plus.. :-)
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
24 Dec 09
Well, sadly, I just realized I've bitten off more than I can chew, as I'm terribly foggy myself all of a sudden! But I promise I'll be back later today, after some sleep, all bright-eyed & bushy-mouthed!
Meanwhile.....
...niters! (;
Maggiepie
"SAY 'MERRY CHRISTMAS!'"
...niters! (;
Maggiepie
"SAY 'MERRY CHRISTMAS!'"@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
24 Dec 09
Okay! M'awake!
I know what you mean about scissors (which word I always want to spell scizzors, by the way...).
Hops! Good one! I guess the only time one hop would be good is when it's the non-botanic kind. You know, as in, "That's one small hop for a man, & one giant hop for Mankind"? 
So, did I keep you up all night? (Funny, but that's something people usually complain about! ).
Happy Christmas!
Maggiepie
"SAY 'MERRY CHRISTMAS!'"
I know what you mean about scissors (which word I always want to spell scizzors, by the way...).
Hops! Good one! I guess the only time one hop would be good is when it's the non-botanic kind. You know, as in, "That's one small hop for a man, & one giant hop for Mankind"?
So, did I keep you up all night? (Funny, but that's something people usually complain about! ).
Happy Christmas!
Maggiepie
"SAY 'MERRY CHRISTMAS!'"
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
25 Dec 09
My dad uses "couth" as a word. I guess he found it where Elic lost it. :-)
Scissors - though I have heard people say "a scissor"
Measles - ever only have one measle
Pajamas - how come a one piecer such as a nightgown isn't a pajama?
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
24 Dec 09
Oh! I'm so sorry! What words aren't clear? I'll be more than happy to clarify them for you! English is very hard, I realize. Please feel free to ask. I'm going to bed soon, so I may not answer until tomorrow, sometime, but I will answer. I'm in Texas, U.S.A.
Maggiepie (still grinning)
"SAY 'MERRY CHRISTMAS!'"
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
24 Dec 09
Oh, dear, I didn't notice until I'd already sent my reply that I still had the old signature, which has the phrase, "still grinning" in it. That was accidentally copied from a previous post, in which I was commenting on a funny story about destructive pets. I was not laughing at you! So sorry!
Maggiepie
"SAY 'MERRY CHRISTMAS!'"
