Curse

milias · Aug 05, 2006, 01:32 PM // 13:32

Hi guys, my friends and I got into this interesting discussion about what the plural of "moose" should be. I thought it should be "meese", since the plural of "goose" is "geese". Another person thought it was "mooses". What do you guys think? Is it "meese", "mooses", or something else?

EDIT: This question came up while we were driving, and we saw a "Moose Crossing" sign or something like that. And yes, we were bored

Bane of Worlds · Aug 05, 2006, 01:43 PM // 13:43

it's moose(yes, it's weird)
search engine ftw

Seissor · Aug 05, 2006, 02:08 PM // 14:08

yeah its boring old moose...but I personally prefer meese. It has a certain made up charm that I wouldnt trade for the world.

milias · Aug 05, 2006, 03:08 PM // 15:08

Hmm, that's very interesting. Maybe it has to do with the fact that moose are in the deer family. And since the plural of "deer" is still "deer", maybe the same principle applies here

Former Ruling · Aug 05, 2006, 04:28 PM // 16:28

The "principle" is that they people that were coming with with what to call them decided "Deers" and "Meese" and "Fishes" and "Sheeps" sounded stupid...

Bane of Worlds · Aug 05, 2006, 04:40 PM // 16:40

taken from word.com
Q: If the plural of goose is geese, why isn't the plural of moose meese?

A. Goose and moose form their plurals in different ways because the words developed much differently, from different origins.

Goose is from Old English, which is the original form of English, related to German and other languages of northern Europe, and almost wholly incomprehensible to English speakers today. However, a great many Old English words are recognizable, even if the grammar and the way verbs and nouns are changed (inflected) are as complicated as Latin to modern speakers; goose is a good example.

Goose in Old English is gos, and the plural was ges, pronounced like "gase," rhyming with "chase."

Moose, on the other hand, is from Algonquian, a Native American language. The Algonquian people of course didn't use English letters, and we ended up with moose no doubt because that is what the word sounded like. The plural moose, speaking now about the English word, is a predictable parallel to other zero-plural words ( that is, plural forms that are unchanged from the base form) like deer and elk. For some reason wild game animals are commonly pluralized this way, whereas household animals are not. For example, one says "four dogs” but “three deer.”

I pwnd U · Aug 05, 2006, 07:11 PM // 19:11

So i say we make it up. So the plural of moose is like Moosies! or something stupid. I think it needs to have a better pulral then Moose. I mean come on you see two moose in a field and you say " Oh look Moose!" Wow ya boring and beisdes its not just one moose. GAH!! I have no idea where im going with this but it needs to be changed.

fiery · Aug 05, 2006, 08:31 PM // 20:31

Moops!

awesome sauce · Aug 05, 2006, 09:13 PM // 21:13

moosi, like the plural of octopus is octopi?

Bane of Worlds · Aug 05, 2006, 09:17 PM // 21:17

moosus?

d4nowar · Aug 06, 2006, 12:04 AM // 00:04

Meeses.

And for another word that is commonly used wrong... "sleep with the fishes!"

Proof

Ultimate_Gaara · Aug 06, 2006, 09:42 AM // 09:42

*insert number here* moose, problem solved.

Mera Regila · Aug 06, 2006, 10:06 AM // 10:06

lol, ive always wondered this, but now, I KNOW. You learn something every day i s'pose.