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.
Posted by Joldo (Member # 6991) on :
Mouses.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Merriam-Webster says mice. American Heritage says mice or mouses. Personally, I've never heard anyone say "mouses."
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Mouse devices?
Although I would say "mice" personally. It doesn't come up very often, thankfully.
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
I'm not sure, I've only ever had one... Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
I wonder if they'll ever invent a game where you use two mice, on in each hand.
Posted by DavidR (Member # 7473) on :
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'.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
The correct term is meeses, as in "I hate meeses to pieces."
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
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".
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
quote: The correct term is meeses, as in "I hate meeses to pieces."
ONLY if you're a cat.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
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!
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
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.
Posted by DavidR (Member # 7473) on :
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.
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
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. Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
quote:I call them mice. The hell with Webster, the Howard lexicon rules (my father's).
Uh, you realize that Merriam-Webster calls them mice, too, right? Just checking.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
gooses, geeses, i want a goose that lays golden eggs for Easter...
oops wrong thread LOL
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
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?)
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
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. Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I say "meeses". Just because it's so funny to say.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
To my knowledge, the official plural form is "Mouse Systems." Not that anyone cares. You can call them mice, I do.
Posted by DavidR (Member # 7473) on :
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.
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
Mice is the plural.
The word "mouses" exists, but its a verb. Once we had computer mice, then we got the verb:
"I was just mousing around on the screen" probably began partly as an analogy to "messing around."
"Just mouse your way through the menues."
"He never types anything, he just mouses. If he can't click it, he skips it."
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
quote:Sorry, the hell with American Heritage.
Amen to that. But what do you mean by Webster changing the spelling?
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
The plural of Mouse is Moose.
Hence Papa Moose is made up of a bunch of computer pointing devices.
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
So Pop is a mouse stampede that achieved sentience?
Posted by DavidR (Member # 7473) on :
The plural of Moose is Moose. Therefore Papa Moose could be a single Moose or a herd of Moose which somehow attained sentience.
In any case I thnk the Scott nailed the plural of mouse in his post.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
Attained sentience AND spawned itself!!
Posted by SmoG (Member # 7778) on :
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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