Is it ever correct to refer to a mustache as a plural? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Plural of Mustache” Howdy, you got A Way with Words. Hi, this is Jennifer from Carlsbad. Hi, Jennifer. Hi, Jennifer. What’s up? Now, I am kind...
Is the word criteria singular or plural? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Criteria” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hello, this is Michelle Diekelman calling from Oceanside, California. Well, hello, Michelle. Welcome to the...
What’s happening linguistically when someone’s using the second-person singular possessive in a list of items? A Charlottesville, Virginia, caller began wondering that recently after hearing a wood-flooring salesperson say, “You got your maple, you...
A woman from Indianapolis is trying to convince her grandmother that it’s okay for restaurant servers to refer to both male and female customers as you guys. Grandma says it’s sexist. Our caller maintains it’s fine, drawing an analogy with Spanish...
An Alabama high-school teacher observes that one of his fellow teachers tends to write words that should be plural as singular, such as “I graded all 50 test” instead of “I graded all 50 tests.” The reason for this locution has to do with some...
A husband and wife have a long-running dispute over whether the word scissors is singular or plural. Is it a scissors or a pair of scissors? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “A Scissors vs. A Pair of Scissors” Hello, you have A Way...
