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Hi Jim & All, Nov 6, 2014
Within reason, I think that such considerations do matter. In e-mails
one tends to be sloppy; but precise prose aids unambiguous thinking. And
conveying any concept that is even slightly unfamiliar to the reader is more
difficult than most suppose. But when to use the singular or plural for
birds is not a question that keeps me awake at night. In the end what
matters is whether or not your message will be clear to the reader.
When making preparations for some multi-step procedure I might say "We
will get all of our ducks in a row today and then start the job tomorrow".
If it is raining one might observe that it is "Good weather for ducks". But
if a quantitative estimate or qualitative measure were involved I might use
the singular; 12 duck, few Mallard. And Snipe always singular; perhaps.
Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Wolford" <jimwolford@eastlink.ca>
To: "naturens" <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2014 5:54 PM
Subject: [NatureNS] question re plurals of bird names?? (from nitpicker Jim)
>I have just read Ken McKenna’s latest posting, as usual full of interesting
>stuff, but here is a question I have wanted to raise for some time now —
>and this will bug some of you, who should sign off now….
>
> In recent times, I have grown tired of trying to know when to apply an “s”
> to make a plural vs. “knowing” which species are best left alone when
> forming plural numbers. Especially problematic are “snipe” vs. “snipes”
> or “woodcock” or “teal” etc. etc. I with my “common-sense” rules of
> grammar have decided to just Anglicize all bird names by adding “s” or
> “es” to all of them, as some of you have noted when I write “teals”, e.g.
>
> What say the rest of you? or does anyone care? Is this important to
> anyone?
>
> Cheers from Jim in Wolfville.
>
>
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