Friday, February 12, 2010

If you are buying more than one mouse for a network, are you buying mice or mouses?

Mouse devices.If you are buying more than one mouse for a network, are you buying mice or mouses?
Its miceIf you are buying more than one mouse for a network, are you buying mice or mouses?
';Mice'; is proper, but ';mouses'; is also accepted. Here's an explanation from Wikipedia:











Mice or mouses?


There is a fake etymology of the word mouse, which some claim is an acronym for ';Manually Operated User Selection Equipment';, but the device's name came from its resemblance to a mouse and was established very early on. A Microsoft technical manual recommends the use of ';mouse devices'; to avoid ambiguity, though this usage has not caught on outside technical writing. The American Heritage Dictionary of English Language, Fourth Edition, states that ';computer mice'; and ';computer mouses'; are both proper plural forms for ';computer mouse.';
From a linguistics perspective, you're buying ';mouses.'; Mice is only the plural for the animal. You wouldn't say you're hooking up ';mice'; to a network of computers any more than you would say you just bought two ';walkmen'; at the electronics store (it would be ';walkmans';).
mice
It's mice.
mouses


mice have 4 legs

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