Re: Adopting a plural
From: | Andreas Johansson <andjo@...> |
Date: | Thursday, October 7, 2004, 7:59 |
Quoting Ray Brown <ray.brown@...>:
> > other such words would be "agendae" and "hoodla".
>
> Ouch! I assume "hoodla" is intentionally humorous or facetious - that one'
> s amusing. But 'agendae' - ach y fi! A plural of a plural! How long before
> we meet "datae"?
On theory of the origin of Swedish _dator_ "computer" is that it's a
singularized Swedish-style plural of _data_, used as a short form of
_datamaskin_ ("data machine"). Other sources claim it's from Latin _dator_
"giver" (of processed data, presumably).
Andreas
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