Help me put this to rest. Plural of Phoenix

[nukeswife]

Today at bowling my kids figured out how to change the team name on the screen. My daughter wanted to name our team (it was boys against girls) the Flying Phoenixes, but my oldest son insisted the plural of Phoenix (the mythical bird) is phoenīcēs.

 

What says the hive.

[DarlaS]

They're both right. Your dd wants to use the English form and your ds prefers Latin.

 

ETA: Your third choice is not necessarily incorrect either. Probably not much help huh? :tongue_smilie:

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I would go with Phoenices, if you wanted to be "true" to latin forms (i.e. matrix = matrices). However, I've heard that Phoenixes is perfectly acceptable since phoenix never appeared in the plural form in old literature.

 

 

But seeing as how the spellchecker here says that "phoenices" is wrong, I might go with phoenixes just to get rid of the red underlining :)

 

:iagree:

[nukeswife]

They're both right. Your dd wants to use the English form and your ds prefers Latin.

 

ETA: Your third choice is not necessarily incorrect either. Probably not much help huh? :tongue_smilie:

 

Oy. The weirdest thing is that none of them have done any Latin, so my son must have researched this on his own since he's big into mythology.

 

I guess we'll all just have to do it our own way. After all I'm one that insists on Octopi, because I think octopuses just sounds weird.

[Matryoshka]

I guess we'll all just have to do it our own way. After all I'm one that insists on Octopi, because I think octopuses just sounds weird.

 

Hehe - there was a big thread here a while back that pointed out that since -pus is a Greek suffix, not Latin, the correct plural for octopus is octopods. :D

[LeslieAnneLevine]

Today at bowling my kids figured out how to change the team name on the screen.

 

 

Completely OT, but how do you change the team name on the screen? :)

[Forget-Me-Not]

Hehe - there was a big thread here a while back that pointed out that since -pus is a Greek suffix, not Latin, the correct plural for octopus is octopods. :D

 

:lol::lol::lol: The things I learn on this board.

[nukeswife]

Hehe - there was a big thread here a while back that pointed out that since -pus is a Greek suffix, not Latin, the correct plural for octopus is octopods. :D

 

I know, I was the one that started that thread LOL. I still think Octopi sounds best, but I could tolerate octopods, but octopuses, just sounds bad.

[nukeswife]

Completely OT, but how do you change the team name on the screen? :)

 

I'm sure this will vary from alley to alley, but at ours you tap the main screen, and then a bunch of boxes come up, one says "team name" if you tap on that, it will let you change it from the default of "team (lane number)"

[Miss Marple]

I wonder if the problem lies in the idea that there is only one Phoenix at a time? Maybe it isn't meant to be pluralized:

 

Mandeville- "In Egypt is the city of Heliopolis, that is to say, the city of the Sun. In that city there is a temple, made round after the shape of the Temple of Jerusalem. The priests of that temple have all their writings, under the date of the fowl that is clept phoenix; and there is none but one in all the world.

 

One of the Early Church Fathers, Clement, related the following regarding the Phoenix in chapter 25 of the First Epistle of Clement:

 

(One of the Early Church Fathers, Clement, related the following regarding the Phoenix in chapter 25 of the First Epistle of Clement) Let us consider that wonderful sign [of the resurrection] which takes place in Eastern lands, that is, in Arabia and the countries round about. There is a certain bird which is called a phoenix. This is the only one of its kind, and lives five hundred years.

 

Yeah, I cut and pasted from Wikipedia and another site :). But remembering my old mythology readings, I seem to remember that it essentially reproduces itself - sort of like reincarnation, but into the same being - just a new one.

[nmoira]

I wonder if the problem lies in the idea that there is only one Phoenix at a time? Maybe it isn't meant to be pluralized

This is what I was going to say. :)

 

It's "the phoenix" and not "a phoenix," or at least was largely until J.K. Rowling.

[nukeswife]

I think part of it stems from our school name/mascot. We chose Fawkes (from Harry Potter) and thus we would be the Fighting Phoenixes/Phonices,Phoenix.

 

Oy, this is starting to make my head hurt.:lol:

[nmoira]

I think part of it stems from our school name/mascot. We chose Fawkes (from Harry Potter) and thus we would be the Fighting Phoenixes/Phonices,Phoenix.

 

Oy, this is starting to make my head hurt.:lol:

IIRC, Rowling uses "phoenixes."

[Matryoshka]

I know, I was the one that started that thread LOL. I still think Octopi sounds best, but I could tolerate octopods, but octopuses, just sounds bad.

 

I agree with you, actually. Octupi sounds best. ;)'

[Butter]

No plural because there is only one phoenix at a time (lucky Dumbledore lol).

 

If I pluralized it, I think I'd go with phoenixes for no other reason than I like how that way looks best.

[Truscifi]

I agree with you, actually. Octupi sounds best. ;)'

 

I was reading this thread to dh, and he said it is actually octopodes from the Greek, which he cites Merriam Webster 3rd international to support (yes, he's a nerd :D). Octopod is the adjectival form of octopus.

 

Oh, and I voted phoenix, because there is only supposed to be one at a time. Dh said it's phoenixes in English.

[joannqn]

Ya'll are a bunch of nerds. <snort> :tongue_smilie:

 

:lol:

[elegantlion]

To add to the nerdyness, how do you get the macrons on your letters? Do you have a Latin font, or some other typing trick?

 

And this thread is making me think of River Phoenix. *sniff*

[nukeswife]

To add to the nerdyness, how do you get the macrons on your letters? Do you have a Latin font, or some other typing trick?

 

And this thread is making me think of River Phoenix. *sniff*

 

I actually did that as a cut and paste from a page I found during a google search on the topic. So I am a nerd, but not quite nerdy enough to have a Latin font. :lol:

[elegantlion]

I actually did that as a cut and paste from a page I found during a google search on the topic. So I am a nerd, but not quite nerdy enough to have a Latin font. :lol:

 

Cut and paste, taught in kindergarten. :lol: computer cut and paste, I adore that! It's better than real cut and paste. :lol: You're crafty!

[nmoira]

I was reading this thread to dh, and he said it is actually octopodes from the Greek, which he cites Merriam Webster 3rd international to support (yes, he's a nerd :D). Octopod is the adjectival form of octopus.

 

Show him this. :)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFyY2mK8pxk

 

And "octopuses" is the preferred plural form in the overwhelming majority of science journals.

[Truscifi]

Show him this. :)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFyY2mK8pxk

 

And "octopuses" is the preferred plural form in the overwhelming majority of science journals.

 

Dh: Ha! I'm mostly right! :glare::lol:

 

He also said he's going to start practicing his British accent. I may love you forever, or never forgive you for that...we'll see how it goes. :D

[nmoira]

Dh: Ha! I'm mostly right! :glare::lol:

 

He also said he's going to start practicing his British accent. I may love you forever, or never forgive you for that...we'll see how it goes. :D

I hope he does better with accents than my husband. When he came to visit me for the first time (in Canada), he tried to impress me by reading the French language airport signs, but I couldn't figure out for the life of me why he was talking to me in German. The worst part was that he'd had two years of high school French... but in Pendleton. :tongue_smilie:

[bookfiend]

Phoenni?

[La Texican]

Flock of Phoenixes is a gaggle, more or less.

[katilac]

Show him this. :)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFyY2mK8pxk

 

And "octopuses" is the preferred plural form in the overwhelming majority of science journals.

 

I'm a bit worried at how very much I enjoyed that, and at the fact that I plan to insert the word "octopuses" into random conversations until someone attempts to correct me.

 

Flock of Phoenixes is a gaggle, more or less.

 

Adding to my list of cool indie rock band names . . .

[Melissa in Australia]

I wonder if the problem lies in the idea that there is only one Phoenix at a time? Maybe it isn't meant to be pluralized:

 

Mandeville- "In Egypt is the city of Heliopolis, that is to say, the city of the Sun. In that city there is a temple, made round after the shape of the Temple of Jerusalem. The priests of that temple have all their writings, under the date of the fowl that is clept phoenix; and there is none but one in all the world.

 

.

 

I was just about to write something similar.

There can only be one at a time, so there is no need to have a plural.

[Matryoshka]

Flock of Phoenixes is a gaggle, more or less.

 

A flame of Phoenixes? Heck, if we can have murder of crows... :D

[nukeswife]

there is no need to have a plural.

 

There is when it's a bowling team :lol:

[Miss Marple]

In order to stay true to the term "Phoenix" and possibly promote team spirit, you could just call them the Phoenix and tell them that they are all part of one great team. They don't all need to be a Phoenix; collectively they make a Phoenix. Think they would buy it??? :)

Edited March 14, 2012 by CynthiaOK

[angela in ohio]

To not sound obnoxious, you would use phoenixes. (If you've read Eats Shoots and Leaves, you know what she says. :lol:)

 

The team should be named Phoenix.

[nmoira]

I vote for The Hippogriffs or The Exploding Snabberwitches. :D