Re: [gentoo-user] [WAY OT] plural of virus (was antivirus)

[Willie Wong <wwong@Princeton.EDU>]

On Wed, Mar 08, 2006 at 07:40:01PM +0000, Penguin Lover neil squawked:
> This is one of my pet hates. There is no such word as "virii". The 
> correct plural of "virus" in the English language is "viruses". Whilst 
> the word virus comes from Latin, the common pluralisation by replacing 
> "us" with "i" would result in "viri". The Latin word "viri" is actually 
> the plural of "vir" and means "men". There is no known plural for 
> "virus" in Latin.

Part of the reason being 'virus' meaning 'poisonous stuff' in Latin,
and hence, is uncountable (like water or knowledge). According to the
OED, it first appeared in the English language also in that sense. It
was later appropriated in the phrase "filterable virus" meaning "vile
stuff that can pass through filters", which gets shortened and
corrupted to a countable noun with the advance of microscopy.

> "Virii" is just non-sensical and means nothing at all.

Reminds me of a favourite joke:

How do you count viruses?
  1 viri, 2 virii, 3 viriii, 4 viriv, 5 virv ...

W
-- 
W: What I could really use now is a dose of triple expresso.
M: I am afraid the coffee shop ain't open this time of day.
W: Well, in that case, a dose of quantum mechanics will just have to do.
Sortir en Pantoufles: up 116 days, 12:35
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