On Sat, Dec 06, 2003 at 09:13:41PM -0500, Ph. D. wrote:
> While we're on the subject of blond vs. blonde and
> folk vs. folks, can someone tell me why I can't find
> university wear which says "alumnus" or "alumna"?
Because most speakers of English don't know those words. They know
the plural form because it almost always occurs in the plural.
I wouldn't be surprised if "alumnus" and "alumna" had disappeared
entirely a few generations hence.
> I haven't seen any that say "Alumnus" or "Alumna."
Ivy-League schools and others that have good liberal arts programs probably
have such.
> I'm only one person, not "alumni." This has spilled
> over into regular speech. I often hear people say "He's
> an alumni of Wayne University."
Yup.
-Mark