Monday 22 July 2013

From plural to singular

credit: Colin_K
Many English nouns can be pluralised by adding <s>, e.g. cat+s, dog+s. Did you know there's an English word which changes from plural to singular by adding <s>? 

Here's my solution:

princes + s = princess

6 comments:

  1. If anyone used "brass" as an abbreviation for "brassiere", then "bras" would be its plural.

    Sorry -- that's the best I've got :)

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  2. Replies
    1. @Anonymous: 'bicep' as an English word doesn't seem to exist. It's not listed in the OED.

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  3. Well, I was... befuddled, to say the least, and then... HA!

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  4. Ahhh -- very clever.

    I had (mis-)understood that the singular and plural must at least potentially refer to the same item. But a princess can't be a prince, and vice versa. Should have read the question more carefully :)

    Under these rules, I can find another example:

    caress - cares

    There are probably several others.

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  5. @vp: do publish more of these!

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