Pedants' Paradise

[LezLee]

Sod it, senior moment. Never been taken in before. (Slinks away, tail between legs. )

[oddoneout]

My eye dismissed the 93% but landed on 'population are vegan'...

[LezLee]

...................

[oddoneout]

Something doesn't seem quite right about this...

Saturday evening’s ceremony was designed to be the culmination of smaller events around Galway next week.

It comes from a general weather related article in the Guardian which included news that Galway's European Capital of Culture ceremonies had been affected by the arrival of Storm Ciara.

[alycidon]

I was watching the programme about MI6 last night and twice the term ‘director generals’ was used - once by the presenter and, alarmingly, by the DG himself. I can’t believe that seemingly educated people don’t know that the plural term is ‘directors-general’ - general in this case being an adjective, of course.

And as for mother-in-laws.....words fail me!

[Serial_Apologist]

And as for mother-in-laws.....words fail me!

Cue Les Dawson!

[LMcD]

I was watching the programme about MI6 last night and twice the term ‘director generals’ was used - once by the presenter and, alarmingly, by the DG himself. I can’t believe that seemingly educated people don’t know that the plural term is ‘directors-general’ - general in this case being an adjective, of course.

And as for mother-in-laws.....words fail me!

I fear you must accept the fact that the media is correct and so is the data what it quotes.

[Bryn]

I fear you must accept the fact that the media is correct and so is the data what it quotes.

At least "data" is more often treated as the plural it is, these days.

[Pulcinella]

And as for mother-in-laws.....words fail me!

I wonder if that's primarily an Americanism?
My 2012 Merriam-Webster gives it as an 'also' option for the plural, but Chambers, Collins, and Concise Oxford only give mothers-in-law.

I wonder too if current usage/thinking is that terms such as director general are now treated as a sort of composite, so naturally the plural goes as an s at the end.
Directors general and courts martial now sound (to my ears at least) elitist and plain awkward, as does using concerti (other than in the Italian expression concerti grossi) rather than concertos.

[ahinton]

I wonder if that's primarily an Americanism?
My 2012 Merriam-Webster gives it as an 'also' option for the plural, but Chambers, Collins, and Concise Oxford only give mothers-in-law.

I wonder too if current usage/thinking is that terms such as director general are now treated as a sort of composite, so naturally the plural goes as an s at the end.
Directors general and courts martial now sound (to my ears at least) elitist and plain awkward, as does using concerti (other than in the Italian expression concerti grossi) rather than concertos.

The problem with "mother-in-laws" is that there are many mothers but only one applicable law, which makes it wrong to my mind.

I don't find "Directors general and courts martial" "élitist" or "plain awkward", but each to his/her/their/its own, I guess...

[Pulcinella]

I wonder now if there's a finer distinction: general and martial (adjectives, which don't agree in English) are not the same as the 'in-law' appendage.
I agree that mother-in-laws doesn't quite do the business.

[cat]

Hmm. "In-laws" is acceptable, and it's surely my mother-in-law's bugbear. Given this I don't why mother-in-laws is wrong. It's obvious that people never mean one mother in multiple laws, and if they do they ought not to hyphenate it and should provide some additional context.

[Oakapple]

And yet the plural of major general is major generals, not majors general. I think it would simplify things if we had a general director rather than a director general.

On another note I've just heard the presenter of Inside Music talking about klezmer music and pronouncing it kletzer every time. No, no - it's klezmer and it's not a German word.

[Sir Velo]

And yet the plural of major general is major generals, not majors general.

Isn't that because they're generals and not majors?

[Sir Velo]

I don't why mother-in-laws is wrong.

Surely because "mothers" is the plural and not "in law".