h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If the plueral of mouse is mice is the word mice used when refering to computer mice or is there a diferant word for computer mouses?

I always refer to them as mice, e.g. two-button mice, three-button mice. Mouses sounds wrong.

I agree... But then.. When refering in the plural, is it mouse balls or mice balls?

Mouse balls. Don't ask why, it just is.

Just be sure you always carry replacements.

There is a why, though. In a similar sense to the fact that the french plural of blackboard is "tableaux noir", it's a question of which thing is being pluralised.
If you had a number of balls, each of which held one mouse you would have some MOUSE BALLS.
If you had one ball that held >1 mouse you would have a MICE BALL.
If you had >1 balls that held >1 mice you would have MICE BALLS.
Make sure you remember to pronounce the M clearly - don't let it slip to an N. Why not try asking for the above in a pet shop, mocking the proprietor when they fail to recognise the correct meaning.

Stop confusing the issue with facts!

There are two reasons why I believe you would say 'mouse balls', and never 'mice balls'.

1: The word 'mouse' is being used as an adjective here, to qualify the noun 'ball' (what kind of ball?). Adjectives are never pluralised - in English, at any rate.

2: The focus of 'mouse ball' is a ball, and not a mouse. It is always the focus which attracts the pluralisation.

By the same token, you would have 'house spiders' and not 'houses spiders'. In the sentence "Look at the size of that house spider!" it is clear that it's a spider we're interested in, not a house. Therefore it is 'spider' that gets pluralised when we change the sentence to "Look at the size of those house spiders!". The word 'house' just acts like an adjective (what kind of spider) and so is not pluralised.

Likewise 'greengrocers', not 'greensgrocers'; 'crash helmets', not 'crashes helmets', etc.

"Look at the size of that houses, spiders!"
a comma makes all the difference.

The thing about that is that a spider can be in only one house at any one time. If a spider was an entity consisting of two discrete physical bodies, both of which lived near skirting boards, houses spiders would exist. Likewise field mice, which can only ever be in one field. I'll ignore the fact that "badger sett" is a place in which more than one badger may live. If anyone's going to be picky about there being no such thing as a mice ball, one could substitute "multiple mouse ball". A mouse ball is such an artificial sort of thing that it doesn't really matter if the methods of construct of the language are bent to permit slight ridicule of the concept within the name itself. There wouldn't be this trouble if "mouses" was the plural form of "mouse"; as it is, we have the word "mice" which sounds slightly silly and should thus be encouraged in silly forms. Buffalo too would benefit from a definite plural form - perhaps buffala or buffalliae. Maybe 1 buffalo should be a buffalon that two buffalo might be buffala. Sheep are a distinctly silly species that really should have a much stupider pluralisation, for no other reason than to spark up the numerous and boring "sheepfold" markings on OS maps of rural regions.

Sheep has a plural! It's "Sheepies"! Don't ya'll know nuttin?

Meeses

Well that's what I think anyway

3

JOTD: Microsoft spel chekar vor sail, worgs grate!!

(Bob should like this JOTD)

Dew knot trussed yore spell chequer too fined awl mistakes!

I've got a great poem about that at home, I'll try and remember to bring it tomorrow.

3

JOTD: "What's the time?"
"I don't know, it keeps changing!"

I need to find the "IBM's Memo to Field Technicians" or something like that.. Meeces Balls should be better explained there.

'Nonnie

The plural of computer mouse is indeed computer mice. But the plural of Mickey Mouse is Mickey Mouses. If you want to know why, I'd have to quote an entire chapter out of Steven Pinker's book, Words and Rules.

Apparently there's a bit in that memo that goes something like: 'Care should be exercised when handling mouse balls. Careless handling of balls can result in an unexpected discharge.'

Well, it made me smile, anyway!

Nonnie, tis here

http://www.montagar.com/~patj/mousebal.htm

C Hawke

Yep, that was it, thank you.

I've probably had at least a dozen copies saved to my humongous mail collection, some pretty straight-forward as that one and probaby a few a bit more.. embellished. I'd planned on putting that one on page one of the "Things that have made the rounds" section, but alas that was not to be found before the page ran out of room.

Now if I can't find my copies I have the page bookmarked (so long as mozilla doesn't lose it).

'Nonnie

If you want a "new" one to do the rounds, check Trillian's Child's recent posting to the US Election Ask H2G2. Had me Rolling on the floor.

CH