False Plurals
A question we hear from time to time:
Are there any English words with a plural form but a singular meaning?
The first word that comes to mind is "kudos." The s as the end makes it look like a plural, but it isn't. Kudos means "praise," so in standard use there is no "kudo."
Still, we do hear and see "kudo" quite a bit, as in "She did a great job, and deserves a kudo." But sentences like that are generally considered incorrect or loose usages (we prefer the term nonstandard).
Now back to the question. There are lots of other false plurals in our language, including diseases like mumps, measles, rickets, shingles, and chilblains. Then there's mathematics, statistics, calisthenics, news (generally), statistics, headquarters (usually), econometrics, economics, ergonomics, and many others—including (if you stretch a bit) rhinoceros and maybe even platypus.
And where to look? We Googled the term "false positives," and found lots of interesting stuff (some not closely related to what we were looking for).
Let us know if you have other, perhaps favorite, false plurals, or other sources.
Are there any English words with a plural form but a singular meaning?
The first word that comes to mind is "kudos." The s as the end makes it look like a plural, but it isn't. Kudos means "praise," so in standard use there is no "kudo."
Still, we do hear and see "kudo" quite a bit, as in "She did a great job, and deserves a kudo." But sentences like that are generally considered incorrect or loose usages (we prefer the term nonstandard).
Now back to the question. There are lots of other false plurals in our language, including diseases like mumps, measles, rickets, shingles, and chilblains. Then there's mathematics, statistics, calisthenics, news (generally), statistics, headquarters (usually), econometrics, economics, ergonomics, and many others—including (if you stretch a bit) rhinoceros and maybe even platypus.
And where to look? We Googled the term "false positives," and found lots of interesting stuff (some not closely related to what we were looking for).
Let us know if you have other, perhaps favorite, false plurals, or other sources.
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