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Greysteel Posted 22 years ago
Grammar
Plural of "mouse"
What is the correct plural form for "mouse" in the sense of computer mouse? On the analogy of"Walkman" shouldn't it be "mouses"? Whether "mouses" or "mice" can anyone cite usages in print?
Top answer
Everywhere I've seen it, they call them 'mice', as I believe is the correct form. e. it does not refer to a man who is walking.
- Everywhere I've seen it, they call them 'mice', as I believe is the correct form.
- e.
- it does not refer to a man who is walking.
- In this case, 'man' doesn't carry its original meaning any more, but it simply a part of a larger word, whose plural should therefore end with a regular suffix '-s'.
- A computer mouse, even if it isn't a real live walking cheese-gnawing animal, is still two separate words, one of which ('mouse') denotes something we unanimously call a mouse.
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15 Answers
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Everywhere I've seen it, they call them 'mice', as I believe is the correct form.
'Walkman' is a complex word that means something entirely different than its constituent words, i.e. it does not refer to a man who is walking. In this case, 'man' doesn't carry its original meaning any more, but it simply a part of a larger word, whose plural should therefore end with a regular suffix '-
'Walkman' is a complex word that means something entirely different than its constituent words, i.e. it does not refer to a man who is walking. In this case, 'man' doesn't carry its original meaning any more, but it simply a part of a larger word, whose plural should therefore end with a regular suffix '-
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>> Everywhere I've seen it, they call them 'mice', as I believe is the correct form.
That's not neccessarily correct. The plural of the name of the hardware used to move the pointer on a computer screen is not mice. No one, not even the inventor of the mouse, agrees on the proper terminology for the plural name of this device. Thus, many companies, such as Microsoft, use the term
That's not neccessarily correct. The plural of the name of the hardware used to move the pointer on a computer screen is not mice. No one, not even the inventor of the mouse, agrees on the proper terminology for the plural name of this device. Thus, many companies, such as Microsoft, use the term
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The name "mouse" for the computer device originally came from an acronym and so "mouses" is more correct.
See http://www.faqfarm.com/Computer/382 or http://www.saugus.net/Computer/Terms/mouse/view for more details.
See http://www.faqfarm.com/Computer/382 or http://www.saugus.net/Computer/Terms/mouse/view for more details.
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Not again! We had a very long discussion on this on one of the threads a couple of months ago. Can someone find it and link?
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Hmm... been here a couple of months at least, actively involved in discussions, and not yet registered, Guest? How about registering and putting a name to yourself so we can get to know you?
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Mouse is called a Manually Operated User-Selection Equipment so if you changed that to Mice what would that stand for? so taking that into account the correct term is M.O.U.S.E.'s
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0 01 a 05 0 00 02 a 00 0240href http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_mouse
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0 01 blockquote
01 cite 10 Clive 12 cite 10 Hi guys, 12 br10 Shouldn't it be "equipment 01 font 00 s 02 font 00 ", then? 0-
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10 MICE - Manual Interface Control Equipment. 12 br
12 br
10 Clive 12 br
12 br
12 blockquote
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0 No, Equipment is a collective noun. Adding 's' is incorrect. But I know many do that incorrectly all the time. 0-
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