What is the proper plural for Canada Goose & Tufted Titmouse? (5 Viewers)

[a.dancy]

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.

I think I must agree. But, is it not true that English as a language suffers a bit from from having so many exceptions to the rules that the time spent learning them becomes disproportionate to the knowledge and wisdom we may otherwise have gained during our most formative years.
Just a thought.

 

[MSA]

As I am full of the spirit of Christmas I thought I'd contribute to this fine thread with a cut and paste from Google "proper noun" -

"Capitalizing Proper Nouns

A proper noun is a noun which names a specific person, place, or thing.

Proper nouns are capitalized. That includes the following categories of names:

Each part of a person's name:


James A. Garfield Chester Alan Arthur
Given or pet names of animals:


Lassie Trigger Secretariat
Geographical and celestial names:


Red Sea Alpha Centauri Lake Havasu City
Monuments, buildings, meeting rooms:


the Taj Mahal Grant's Tomb Room 222
Historical events, documents, laws, and periods:


the Civil War the Hatch Act the Reformation
Months, days of the week, holidays:


Monday Easter December
Groups and languages:


Myopia Hunt Club the Republicans Israeli French National Football League
Religions, deities, scriptures:


God Christ the Bible the Torah Islam
Awards, vehicles, vehicle models, brand names:


the Nobel Peace Prize Eagle Scout Ford Escort the Bismarck Kleenex"

It struck me before doing this that I have always thought of my car as a (for example) Ford Escort; not a Ford escort, nor a ford escort. There are millions of them out there, they are not unique, but each one is from a defined manufacturer and of a defined brand. How does this differ from a bird of a defined family and of a defined species?

Now we've got that out of the way, I have more than one Vauxhall Vectra. Do I have Vauxhall Vectri?

Just a thought.

 

[scampo]

I think I must agree. But, is it not true that English as a language suffers a bit from from having so many exceptions to the rules that the time spent learning them becomes disproportionate to the knowledge and wisdom we may otherwise have gained during our most formative years.
Just a thought.

I suspect it's one of those myths that other languages don't have lots of exceptions but we have a good reason having such a mix from German through French back to a kind of mixture we call English. I think it's true to say that thanks to our vast number of words it's possible in English to find a precise word better than in any other language!

 

[bitterntwisted]

As I am full of the spirit of Christmas I thought I'd contribute to this fine thread with a cut and paste from Google "proper noun".

The strange line-breaking effect confused the hell out of me, MSA. I don't know if you ever saw the Two Ronnies Mastermind sketch with the specialist subject, "Answering the question before last"

Given or pet names of animals: James A. Garfield Chester Alan Arthur

Geographical and celestial names: Lassie Trigger Secretariat

Monuments, buildings, meeting rooms: Red Sea Alpha Centauri Lake Havasu City

Historical events, documents, laws, and periods: the Taj Mahal Grant's Tomb Room 222

Months, days of the week, holidays: the Civil War the Hatch Act the Reformation

Groups and languages: Monday Easter December

Religions, deities, scriptures: Myopia Hunt Club the Republicans Israeli French National Football League

Awards, vehicles, vehicle models, brand names: God Christ the Bible the Torah Islam

Each part of a person's name: the Nobel Peace Prize Eagle Scout Ford Escort the Bismarck Kleenex​

My New Year's resolution is to change my name by deed poll to "Nobel Peace Prize Eagle Scout Ford Escort the Bismarck Kleenex"

Graham

 

[Colin]

My New Year's resolution is to change my name by deed poll to "Nobel Peace Prize Eagle Scout Ford Escort the Bismarck Kleenex"

Graham

Blimy, that is a mouthful, can I call you 'Nob' for short?

Have a good 2007.

 

[alcedo.atthis]

Having read all of the above, is it a Canadian Moose Alces alces for one and Canadian Mice for a herd of them.

If it's "mice", how big are Canadian skirting boards??

Regards

Malky :h?:

 

[bitterntwisted]

can I call you 'Nob' for short?

Hmmmm,... a flaw in my genius?

 

[Colin]

Hmmmm,... a flaw in my genius?

Maybe not! Have a good Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I think I will call them "Geese of Canada". Not sure about the titmouse though.

 

[glockorglock]

According to this web site, the plural would be Canada Geese.
Goose - Wikipedia.
In other words, of all the Canadian geese, the best known is the Canada Goose.

Why not Canadian gaggle or Canada gaggle?

 

[Farnboro John]

Why not Canadian gaggle or Canada gaggle?

A gaggle of geese is a flock on the ground. You wouldn't use it for flying geese (a skein) or for a pair either on the ground or in the air: they would be a pair of Canada Geese, because that is the plural of the name. Snow, Ross's and Black Brant are also Canadian Geese in the sense that they reside for part of the year in Canada, but they are not Canada Geese.

John