3 ms·

Sorry for the nitpick but virii is neither in Latin nor English a plural of virus. The Latin would be vira the English viruses. There are a couple of common var

Sorry for the nitpick but virii is neither in Latin nor English a plural of virus. The Latin would be vira the English viruses. There are a couple of common variants floating around that probably originate from misunderstanding Latin.

failwhaleshark 5y ago
Faux Latin and "Latin" declension is annoying because it's often just plain wrong.
- dayofthedaleks 5y ago
  Don't let the bastards drag you down, man. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegitimi_non_carborundum https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegitimi_non_carborundum
  - failwhaleshark 5y ago
    :D I had actual Latin on a license plate frame on a sports car that roughly translated to "eat my dust/shit/detritus." I can't remember the exact tenses of the words, but it took me a while to get it right.
- theon144 5y ago
  We're getting completely off track here but I agree; to me it seems to be kind of an extension to grammar pedantism, as it only serves to indicate little beyond "I know this word's origins". What's wrong with "viruses" or "octopuses"?
  - failwhaleshark 5y ago
    Tangents and secants are how we learn. And if we don't stop to smell the roses, how will we remember how good roses smell? So let's not defenestrate curiosity wherever it leads with the culture of "no," because you're not a moderator. So don't pretend to be the king who decides what is permitted and forbidden to be discussed; that's contrary to an open and free society. There's nothing wrong with "viruses" or "octopuses." Please read and understand that "faux Latin" means these tweaked "smarty" words aren't even Latin half of the time.
jbaber 5y ago
Whoa, whoa, whoa. "vira"? In Latin, virus is a mass noun (like applesauce), so you can pluralize however you want in English because using it in the singular only works in English anyway. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_form_of_words_ending_in_-us#Mass_noun_in_Latin https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_form_of_words_ending_...
- vMPQonVtAjLWmr 5y ago
  What makes you think you can pluralize it in English however you want? Yeah, I mean you can do whatever and ignore grammar I guess. It's not illegal.
Ovah 5y ago
Apparently this seems to be an ongoing and contentious internet debate lol. There's even a wiki article on the subject.[1] The main three arguments appear to be that virii 1) is grammatically incorrect Latin, 2) virus has historically never had a latin plural "as it is a mass noun" and 3) it's a neologistic folk etymology. While I may agree with the grammatical merits [1)] I'm not convinced (yet). The second argument [2)] that it's never had a historical plural doesn't hold up. The field of virology is much more recent so the need for a plural 'virus' didn't exist at the time. And 3) is literally how words are formed. If a term used frequently enough it eventually becomes a word regardless of the original grammatical correctness. The term even has 175 years of precedent.[2] As cactus has the plural cacti it's non-obvious why the same doesn't hold true for virus. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_form_of_words_ending_in_-us https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_form_of_words_ending_in... [2] https://archive.org/details/homopathictreati00test/page/48/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/homopathictreati00test/page/48/m...

failwhaleshark 5y ago

Faux Latin and "Latin" declension is annoying because it's often just plain wrong.

dayofthedaleks 5y ago
Don't let the bastards drag you down, man. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegitimi_non_carborundum https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegitimi_non_carborundum
- failwhaleshark 5y ago
  :D I had actual Latin on a license plate frame on a sports car that roughly translated to "eat my dust/shit/detritus." I can't remember the exact tenses of the words, but it took me a while to get it right.
theon144 5y ago
We're getting completely off track here but I agree; to me it seems to be kind of an extension to grammar pedantism, as it only serves to indicate little beyond "I know this word's origins". What's wrong with "viruses" or "octopuses"?
- failwhaleshark 5y ago
  Tangents and secants are how we learn. And if we don't stop to smell the roses, how will we remember how good roses smell? So let's not defenestrate curiosity wherever it leads with the culture of "no," because you're not a moderator. So don't pretend to be the king who decides what is permitted and forbidden to be discussed; that's contrary to an open and free society. There's nothing wrong with "viruses" or "octopuses." Please read and understand that "faux Latin" means these tweaked "smarty" words aren't even Latin half of the time.

jbaber 5y ago

Whoa, whoa, whoa. "vira"? In Latin, virus is a mass noun (like applesauce), so you can pluralize however you want in English because using it in the singular only works in English anyway. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_form_of_words_ending_in_-us#Mass_noun_in_Latin https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_form_of_words_ending_...

vMPQonVtAjLWmr 5y ago
What makes you think you can pluralize it in English however you want? Yeah, I mean you can do whatever and ignore grammar I guess. It's not illegal.

Ovah 5y ago

Apparently this seems to be an ongoing and contentious internet debate lol. There's even a wiki article on the subject.[1] The main three arguments appear to be that virii 1) is grammatically incorrect Latin, 2) virus has historically never had a latin plural "as it is a mass noun" and 3) it's a neologistic folk etymology. While I may agree with the grammatical merits [1)] I'm not convinced (yet). The second argument [2)] that it's never had a historical plural doesn't hold up. The field of virology is much more recent so the need for a plural 'virus' didn't exist at the time. And 3) is literally how words are formed. If a term used frequently enough it eventually becomes a word regardless of the original grammatical correctness. The term even has 175 years of precedent.[2] As cactus has the plural cacti it's non-obvious why the same doesn't hold true for virus. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_form_of_words_ending_in_-us https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_form_of_words_ending_in... [2] https://archive.org/details/homopathictreati00test/page/48/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/homopathictreati00test/page/48/m...