posted
Is the plural form of "mouse," as in, the device with which I interface with my computer, "mouses?" Because this is my position in an argument with a coworker. He believes it is "mice," like the animal. I just hope I'm not making a fool of myself.
Posts: 31 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:mouse - A pointing device. A mouse is cupped in the hand and rolled on a flat surface. Mice control the on - screen cursor and enable you to execute software commands quickly by clicking a built - in button. Other pointing devices include trackballs and touch - sensitive pads.
See trackball.
I don't know that this is exactly authoratative, but there were only 5 hits when I searched google for 'computer teminology mouse plural'.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
I call them mice. The hell with Webster, the Howard lexicon rules (my father's).
Now, seriously, I think that since it's named after a rodent, it should be pluralised the same way - as "mice".
Posts: 2978 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Official Party doctrine on this matter is not yet formulated; it is one of the major points for debate in the upcoming 25th Grammar Communist Party Congress. Stay tuned for more exciting debates, comrades!
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
Definitely MICE. What if the pointing device was called a "goose"? Would that mean the plural was "gooses"? How stupid would that be? I don't think you have to be a grammar major to figure this one out, folks.
Posts: 1813 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
I agree that mice is the correct plural form. That is the plural form that I have always used and always heard other people use. However, having worked for the last 7 years in an industry (publishing) which seems to decide everything by refering to style guides or other similar "official repositories of the right way to do things," I thought that looking it up might be a good idea. Every so often I discover that the hard and fast rule that I have always followed was considered wrong. There were only six hits on my search on google, and they either confirmed or didn't contradict my experience with the plural form of mouse being mice.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote: I thought that looking it up might be a good idea. Every so often I discover that the hard and fast rule that I have always followed was considered wrong.
Understood. I automatically default to grammar rules from my elementary and middle school years. Posts: 1813 | Registered: Apr 2001
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quote: Uh, you realize that Merriam-Webster calls them mice, too, right?
Sorry, the hell with American Heritage. I'm simply pissed off at Webster for the change of spelling. They should've gone the Mark Twain way: "Hottentottentatentantenpantermürderattentäter" (sp?)
Posts: 2978 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
I still like meese. Not meeses, cuz that's just obviously wrong and painful to look at. But meese, now there's a certain elegance to it. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
To my knowledge, the official plural form is "Mouse Systems." Not that anyone cares. You can call them mice, I do.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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posted
I entered 'mouse systems' into google and got 13,800,000 hits. Perusing the first page of links, most are talking about a company called Mouse Systems or their products. The others still seem to use the term mice for the plural of mouse. Of course I didn't have time to check all thirteen million eight hundred thousand sites, but the first page or two are usually representative enough for a quick search. I personally had never heard the term "Mouse Systems" until the post about it in this thread and I have been using computers either personally or professionally since 1982. Six of those years were in the Marines where one would expect to hear such terms used with narry a snicker, and yet I never heard it.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote: However, the plural of this device should be determined by common usage. If this is the case then it would appear that both mice and mouses are acceptable
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