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What is the proper plural for Canada Goose & Tufted Titmouse? (1 Viewer)

Terry O'Nolley

Cow-headed Jaybird
I saw one Canada Goose.

I saw two.....
1. Canada Gooses
2. Canada Geese
3. Canadian Gooses
4. Canadian Geese

I saw one Tufted Titmouse.

I saw two.....
1. Tufted Titmouses
2. Tufted Titmice

I know "geese" is the plural of "goose". But does that hold true for a term like "Canada Goose" which isn't a generic term - it is a proper name. So it seems like "geese" isn't correct.

And what about Tufted Titmouse? THe plural for "mouse" is "mice" but, again, Tufted Titmouse is a proper noun - not a generic term and a Tufted Titmouse is not a mouse so should the plural "Tufted Titmce" be used?
 
Agreed. 'Canadian' Goose/Geese is an abomination, and I have never understood the 'mice' bit of Titmice anyway - why not just 'Tit'?
 
The Titmouse is only distantly related to the Tits and/or Chickadees but is not in the same genus, although it once was. According to The Dictionary of American Bird Names by E. Choate, "Titmouse" is derived from the Anglo-Saxon "masse" meaning "small bird" as does the word "tit" which means little or small. Therefore the common name titmouse is redundant! He also states that the true plural should be "titmouses" but due to confusion with mouse, it is titmice. I alsways thought the name referred to coloration such as mouse-colored, something all titmoose, uh... titmeese, er.. titmices share.
 
Personally I tend to think in terms of "titmouse" for the singlular and plural, as with sheep and fish.

"A flock of titmouse" sounds right to me.

Rightly or wrongly, I also do this with dotterel, snipe, albatross, curlew, whimbrel, stint, smew, goldeneye, mallard, gadwall, pintail, teal and so on.
 
I'd agree with Keith as Titmice just doesn't ring right somehow and puts the emphasis more on Mice than the intended flock of Birds. Though with Canada Geese it's a different thing, to my mind, Geese is what I always use and what sounds right, Canada Goose for plural just doesn't sound right.

I'd also agree with all Keith's other plurals, far better. I think most Duck sounds far more right when using the singular i.e. 17 Mallard. Come to think of it isn't it possible to use the singular for all Birds, though maybe not with Blackbirds etc.

Sue.
 
Interesting, I've never heard anything other than Canadian Geese, or Canadian Goose.

Drake.
 
It is one of those oddities of common names. We don't say "America Kestrel" or "America Crow" so why shouldn't it be "Canadian Goose"? Weird, but for some reason it just isn't. Maybe someone will know and can enlighten all of us...? :h?:
 
Katy Penland said:
It is one of those oddities of common names. We don't say "America Kestrel" or "America Crow" so why shouldn't it be "Canadian Goose"? Weird, but for some reason it just isn't. Maybe someone will know and can enlighten all of us...? :h?:


But we (or rather mostly you) do say Florida Scrub Jay and Carolina Wren.
 
I may not be very clever. It took me months of living in Europe to get over Great Tits. Now that I can refer to them with a straight face, it's my wife who gets a laugh when I do.
 
This thread reminds me of an argument my husband and I had over the plural of Mongoose and we eventually decided it was "Mongooses" as nothing to do with a goose. So I would say Canada Geese and Titmouses (although I know hubby would argue the latter but def not "titmice"!!

Nerine
 
In simplest terms, it's Canada Goose because that's what it was named just as in Canada Jay or Canada Warbler. With the American Kestrel there is also European Kestrel.
 
Terry O'Nolley said:
I saw one Canada Goose.

I saw two.....
1. Canada Gooses
2. Canada Geese
3. Canadian Gooses
4. Canadian Geese

I saw one Tufted Titmouse.

I saw two.....
1. Tufted Titmouses
2. Tufted Titmice

I know "geese" is the plural of "goose". But does that hold true for a term like "Canada Goose" which isn't a generic term - it is a proper name. So it seems like "geese" isn't correct.

And what about Tufted Titmouse? The plural for "mouse" is "mice" but, again, Tufted Titmouse is a proper noun - not a generic term and a Tufted Titmouse is not a mouse so should the plural "Tufted Titmce" be used?
Trust an English teacher (and the OED)...!

(-;

Canada geese

Titmice

Keith's point about using the singular form as the plural works for some species, e.g. "There are six sparrowhawk in the air." but you could not say, "There are six titmouse in the wood." Titmice it has to be.

But the plural of the pointing device you are now holding in your hand is...?

Btw, the phrase "tufted titmouse" is not a proper noun; it is a common noun and requires to be written with initial lower case letters. Now, if you had a pet titmouse called Eric, then "Eric", with a capitalised "E" is the proper noun, i.e. the given name for a specific individual within a species.
 
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