According to websters

Main Entry: fo·rum

Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural forums also fo·ra
Etymology: Latin; akin to Latin foris outside, fores door — more at door
Date: 15th century

man-woman? Hmmmm, I don't think that format is correct.

Anyway, it was just a suggestion to the person responsible for this site. In Greece we do use the fora as plural (it's just an hour trip to Rome from here!!)

Many people thought that since Latin was such a "classy" language", English should copy all its grammatical concepts, even when those concepts didn't fit the English language.

One example is forum-fora (and many similar words), another is avoiding split infinitives ("to boldly go...") because they are not possible in Latin ("to go" is one single word).

As war correspondent Winston Churchill said about not ending sentences with a preposition (after being so admonished in an international telegram from his editor), "That's an imposition up with which I shall not put."

I would also be willing to guess that the average English speaking forum reader will see the word "Forums" and immediately know it's "more than one forum", but upon seeing "Fora" may not know what is meant.

Remember that language is a fluid concept. Very very few things are actually wrong. Generally what most people say is wrong is simply a method of expressing an idea that hasn't become part of mainstream usage. For example, people used the word "ain't" for decades and their meaning was very well understood even though the word wasn't in the dictionary. Because the usage was so common and well understood, it now is in the dictionary. This is because dictionaries are intended to document language, not define it.

So, is "forums" a word? It most certainly is. I see it there on the page, i can read it, i hear the sound in my mind when i read it. I can say it and hear it spoken. I know what it means and those i communicate with know what it means too. By any reasonable definition of the word "word", it fits.

So, when an Italian golfer hits a shot, does he yell "fora!"?
Sorry, couldn't help it.

"man-woman" a new subspecies? ;-)

"forms" is fairly well defined, link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_forum, or just cruise thru any major university English department website ;-)

As for the man-woman thing, it is my mistake, I forgot that the term man includes woman as well.
And since I now realised that US english tends to simplify everything for the average man to understand, next time I won't be surprised to read sentences like " I went hunting and killed 2 deers".

Fotis Greece,

I was not trying to ridicule you. I was just showing that the US English has added "forums" as a plural of forum. English has more contradictions than you can count on plurals, pronunciations, etc. because we have taken so much from other languages.

Sorry if I got you upset.

By the way, question: in America, we have the Websters dictionary to define words, etc, what are the other countries equivalents?

Dave T2

In Texas we use the redneck dictionary:

BARD - verb. Past tense of the infinitive "to borrow."
Usage: "My brother bard my pickup truck."

JAWJUH - noun. A highly flammable state just north of Florida.
Usage: "My brother from Jawjah bard my pickup truck."

MUNTS - noun. A calendar division.
Usage: "My brother from Jawjuh bard my pickup truck, and I aint herd from him in munts."

IGNERT - adjective. Not smart. See "Auburn Alumni."
Usage: "Them N-C-TWO-A boys sure are ignert!"

RANCH - noun. A tool.
Usage: "I think I left my ranch in the back of that pickup truck my brother from Jawjuh
bard a few munts ago."

ALL - noun. A petroleum-based lubricant.
Usage: "I sure hope my brother from Jawjuh puts all in my pickup truck."

FAR - noun. A conflagration.
Usage: "If my brother from Jawjuh doesn't change the all in my pickup truck, that things
gonna catch far."

BAHS - noun. A supervisor.
Usage: "If you don't stop reading these Southern words and git back to work, your bahs is
gonna far you!"

TAR - noun. A rubber wheel.
Usage: "Gee, I hope that brother of mine from Jawjuh doesn't git a flat tar in my pickup
truck."

TIRE - noun. A tall monument.
Usage: "Lord willing and the creeks don't rise, I sure do hope to see that Eiffel Tire in
Paris sometime."

HOT - noun. A blood-pumping organ.
HOD - adverb. Not easy.
Usage: "A broken hot is hod to fix."

RETARD - Verb. To stop working.
Usage: "My granpaw retard at age 65."

TARRED - adverb. Exhausted.
Usage: "I just flew in from Hot-lanta, and boy my arms are tarred."

RATS - noun. Entitled power or privilege.
Usage: "We Southerners are willing to fight for out rats."

LOT - adjective. Luminescent.
Usage: "I dream of Jeanie in the lot-brown hair."

FARN - adjective. Not local.
Usage: "I cudnt unnerstand a wurd he sed ... must be from some farn country."

DID - adjective. Not alive.
Usage: "He's did, Jim."

EAR - noun. A colorless, odorless gas (unless you are in LA).
Usage: "He can't breathe ... give 'em some ear!"

BOB WAR - noun. A sharp, twisted cable.
Usage: "Boy, stay away from that bob war fence."

JU-HERE - a question.
Usage: "Juhere that former Dallas Cowboys' coach Jimmy Johnson recently toured the
University of Alabama?"

HAZE - a contraction.
Usage: "Is Bubba smart?" "Nah ... haze ignert."

SEED - verb, past tense.
VIEW - contraction: verb and pronoun.
Usage: "I ain't never seed New York City ... view?"

HEAVY DEW - phrase. A request for action.
Usage: "Kin I heavy dew me a favor?"

GUMMIT - Noun. An often-closed bureaucratic institution.
Usage: "Great ... ANOTHER gummit shutdown!

Ah: The thing you see with, and the personal pronoun used denoting individuality. "Ah think Ah've got somethin' in mah ah."

Ast: To interrogate or inquire, as when a revenue agent seeks information about illegal moonshine stills. "Don't ast me so many question. It makes me mad."

Attair: Contraction used to indicate the specific item desire. "Pass me attair gravy, please"

Awl: An amber fluid used to lubricate engines. "Ah like attair car, but it sure does take a lot of awl."

Bawl: What water does at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. "That gal cain't even bawl water without burnin' it."

Bleeve: Expression of intent or faith. "Ah bleeve we ought to go to church this Sunday."

Cent: Plural of cent. "You paid five dollars for that necktie? Ah wouldn't give fiddy cent for it."

Co-cola: The soft drink that started in Atlanta and conquered the world. "Ah hear they even sell Co-cola in Russia."

Cyst: To render aid. "Can Ah cyst you with those packages, ma'am."

Dayum: A cuss word Rhett Butler used in "Gone With the Wind." "Frankly,my dear, I don't give a dayum."

Everwhichaways: To be scattered in all directions. "You should have been there when the train hit attair chicken truck. Them chickens flew everwhichaways.

Far: A state of combustion that produces heat and light. "Ah reckon it's about time to put out the far and call in the dawgs."

Flares: The colorful, sweet-smelling part of a plant. "If yo wife's mad at ya, it's smart to take her some flares."

Fur: Measure of distance. "It's a fur piece ta Etlanna."

Fur: Because of or to indicate possession. "Fur yew ta get attair new car yew gotta go see Bubba bout a loan."

Good ole boy: Any Southern male between age 16 and 60 who has an amiable disposition and is fond of boon companions, strong drink, hound dawgs, fishin', huntin', and good lookin' women, but
not necessarily in that order. " Bubba's a good ole boy."

Griyuts: What no Southern breakfast would be without - grits. "Ah like griyuts with butter and sawt on'em, but Ah purely love'em with red-eye gravy."

Hale: Where General Sherman is going for what he did to Etlanna. (Atlanta) "General Sherman said "War is Hale" and he made sure it was."

Hep: to aid or benefit. "Ah can't hep it if Ah'm still in love with you."

Idinit: Term employed by genteel Southerners to avoid saying Ain't. "Mighty hot today, idinit?"

Jew: Did you. "Jew want to buy attair comic book, son, or just stand there and read it here?"

Kumpny: Guests. "Be home on time. We's havin' kumpny for supper."

Law: Police, or as Southerners pronounce it, PO-leece. "We better get outta here. That bartender's doen called the law."

Likker: Whiskey; either the amber kind bought in stores or the homemade white kind that federal authorities frown upon." Does he drink? Listen, he spills more likker than most people drink.'

Mash: To press, as in the case of an elevator button. "Want me to mash yo floor for you, Ma'am?"

Muchablige: Thank you. "muchablige for the lift, mister."

Nawthun: Anything that is not Southern. "He is a classic product of the superior Nawthun educational system." (sarcasm)

Ovair: In that direction. 'Where's yo paw, son?" He's ovair, suh."

Phraisin: Very cold. "Shut that door. It's phraisin in here."

Plum: Completely. "Ah'm plum wore out."

Retch: To grasp for. "The right feilder retch over into the stands and caught the ball."

Saar: The opposite of sweet. "These pickles Sure are saar."

Shovelay: A GM car. "Nobody could drive a Shovelay like Junior Johnson."

Sinner: Exact middle of. "Have you been to the new shoppin' sinner."

Sugar: A kiss. "Come here and give me some sugar."

Tarred: Fatigued. "Ah'm too tarred to go bowlin' nonight."

Tar Arns: A tool employed in changing wheels. "You cain't change a tar without a tar arn."

Uhmurkin: Someone who lives int he United States of Uhmurka. "Thomas Jefferson was a great Uhmurkin."

War: Metal strands attached to posts to enclose domestic animals. "Be careful and don't get stuck on that bob war."

Whup: To beat or to strike. "OOOEEE!!! Yer mama's gonna whup you fer sayin' a cuss word."

Yankee shot: A Southern child's navel. "Momma, what's this on mah belly?" "That's yo Yankee Shot." Zat: Is that. "Zat yo dawg?"

BARD - verb. Past tense of the infinitive "to borrow."

Usage: "My brother bard my pickup truck."

JAWJUH - noun. A highly flammable state just north of Florida.

Usage: "My brother from Jawjah bard my pickup truck."

MUNTS - noun. A calendar division.

Usage: "My brother from Jawjuh bard my pickup truck, and I aint herd from him in munts."

IGNERT - adjective. Not smart. See "Auburn Alumni."

Usage: "Them N-C-TWO-A boys sure are ignert!"

RANCH - noun. A tool.

Usage: "I think I left my ranch in the back of that pickup truck my brother from Jawjuh bard a few munts ago."

ALL - noun. A petroleum-based lubricant.

Usage: "I sure hope my brother from Jawjuh puts all in my pickup truck."

FAR - noun. A conflagration.

Usage: "If my brother from Jawjuh doesn't change the all in my pickup truck, that things gonna catch far."

BAHS - noun. A supervisor.

Usage: "If you don't stop reading these Southern words and git back to work, your bahs is gonna far you!"

TAR - noun. A rubber wheel.

Usage: "Gee, I hope that brother of mine from Jawjuh doesn't git a flat tar in my pickup truck."

TIRE - noun. A tall monument.

Usage: "Lord willing and the creeks don't rise, I sure do hope to see that Eifel Tire in Paris sometime."

HOT - noun. A blood-pumping organ.

HOD - adverb. Not easy.

Usage: "A broken hot is hod to fix."

RETARD - Verb. To stop working.

Usage: "My granpaw retard at age 65."

TARRED - adverb. Exhausted.

Usage: "I just flew in from Hot-lanta, and boy my arms are tarred."

RATS - noun. Entitled power or privilege.

Usage: "We Southerners are willing to fight for our rats." (Today's Southern Word comes from a school teacher in America's southern most state: Hawaii. As part of her class's study of the "War of Northern Aggression" (known to Yankees as the "Civil War"), she showed her class the movie Gettysburg. The students wondered why the Confederacy was fighting for their "rats." The answer, of course, is obvious: Southerners have very friendly rats ... in fact, you could almost say that we have some downright civil rats.)

LOT - adjective. Luminescent.

Usage: "I dream of Jeanie in the lot-brown hair."

FARN - adjective. Not local.

Usage: "I cudnt unnerstand a wurd he sed ... must be from some farn country."

DID - adjective. Not alive.

Usage: "He's did, Jim."

EAR - noun. A colorless, odorless gas (unless you are in LA).

Usage: "He can't breathe ... give 'em some ear!"

BOB WAR - noun. A sharp, twisted cable.

Usage: "Boy, stay away from that bob war fence."

JU-HERE - a question.

Usage: "Juhere that former Dallas Cowboys' coach, Jimmy Johnson, recently toured the University of Alabama?"

HAZE - a contraction.

Usage: "Is Bubba smart?" "Nah ... haze ignert."

SEED - verb, past tense.

VIEW - contraction: verb and pronoun. Usage: "I ain't never seed New York City ... view?"

HEAVY DEW - phrase. A request for action.

Usage: "Kin I heavy dew me a favor?"

WARSH - verb. To clean.

SQUARSH - noun. A vegetable (also verb - to flatten).

Usage: "Warsh that squarsh, Bubba ... you don't know where its been!"

GUMMIT - Noun. An often-closed bureaucratic institution.

Usage: "Great ... ANOTHER gummit shutdown!"

Cole's Law: Thinly shredded cabbage

Ya'll Come Back Now, Ya hear?

aint only texas,,, unerstood reeel will her in carolina

One usage that IS wrong, and appears quite frequently in this and other fora/ums, is

I should of done this, or
I would of thought that, or
I could of told you that

... instead of should have, would have and could have

This is a misunderstanding by people who have heard the contracted forms,
should've, would've and could've and not realised what they actually are.

"Would of" is the same as saying
"Where of you been?"
"I of been to London to see the Queen"

lesson over

"As for the man-woman thing, it is my mistake, I forgot that the term man includes woman as well." ----actually, using the word "person" or "individual" would be more commonly used in the U.S. ;-) Or the word "Dude" for any substitution of meaning if you are under 30... ;-)


" I went hunting and killed 2 deers". Translation for over 30 crowd-> "I went hunting and killed off 2 cases of beer" ;-) ..... Translation for under 30 crowd-> "Dude, I went hunting, I think, but Dude, I killed off 2 cases of beer, 4 pounds of grass, 300 TacoBell tacos, Dude,... like I caught some mean-a** crabs at the Take Out Window....." ;-)

A few years back, in spite of what the dictionary says, I had to re-do a voiceover for a national brick company because they insisted that the plural of "brick" is "brick"...kinda like the deer thing.

According to the manufacturer, a brick is a brick, but if you have 100...then you have 100 brick. Go figure.

"By the way, question: in America, we have the Websters dictionary to define words, etc, what are the other countries equivalents?"

OED (Oxford English Dictionary) or Macquarie Dictionary here in Australia.

The OED lists 'deers' rarely used as a plural, but still valid. I'm not 100% sure of this, but the plural 'deers' was probably formerly used when the two deer that you shot were of different species. Two individuals = '2 deer', but a mule deer and a whitetail = 'two deers'.

'Fishes' is still a perfectly valid plural form, as long as more than one type is being referred to, as in "there are many types of fishes in this lake" or "I just bought a book called The Freshwater Fishes of Australia". I have had irate schoolteachers send me nasty emails at the aquarium at which I work, saying they've been teaching their pupils that the plural of 'fish' is 'fish' and were appalled to see graphics with the word 'fishes' on a school excursion to our facility.

> question: in America, we have the Websters dictionary to define words, etc, what are the other countries equivalents?


In Britain the series of dictionaries maintained/compiled by Oxford University is usually regarded as the authority on the language. They regard forums as the correct plural of forum in its modern uses. Details here.

Mark

Posted by: Grazie

Or Athens, as it were ?

Really, can anyone point to an internet forum where the admin or members refer to their forums as fora ? ( ... except those that restrict the language to Latin )

Anyway, I found the discussion that followed entertaining...

Effective Communication is:
Someone saying something to Someone Else... and the Someone Else knowing what the Someone means or meant.

If I say Blue but meant Red and you knew I meant Red... that's still Effective Communication.

I tend to dumb down a lot of the Video Terminology when I speak to clients simply because I want the Communication to be Effective... therefore I speak their language.

I know what is meant by Forums... I would have no idea what Fora is.

Looks like a barber shop with all the split hairs on the floor in here.
or
Vultus amo a tonsor shop per totus scindo saeta in solum in hic.

Vidi, vici, veni.

And no corrections on that one, please.

Especially if you know Latin.

It was found during excavations of Ancient Rome, scribbled on the wall of a public facility.

At least that's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

:O)

It is also often parodied, like in Ghostbusters "We came, we saw, we kicked its a**" , I though the UAW old phrase was funny, "We came, we drunk, on overtime too!"