A big thank you!

On Oct 29, 12:30 pm, Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
wrote:
Have you tried an unabridged dictionary? I have a suspicion that if you
do, you will find that "moebius" is an adjective and will not have a
plural form in English, but I am not sure.

I can find it in some dictionaries (especially under the spelling
'mobius') but no plural is mentioned. For example see:
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/Mobius

Given that it's a person's name (August Ferdinand Möbius) and that
what we're probably really talking about are "Möbius strips" or
"Möbius bands" there just may not be any official plural.

VP

OED does not list a plural, although it does list Mobius as a noun. I'd say
that since it came into popular use within the last century, and since it's
a proper name, the plural form would most likely be Mobiuses. We tend to
use the Germanic "es" plural ending for most proper nouns nowadays.

Anastasia

--Linguistics graduate student


"Vintage Purls" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Oct 29, 12:30 pm, Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
wrote:
Have you tried an unabridged dictionary? I have a suspicion that if you
do, you will find that "moebius" is an adjective and will not have a
plural form in English, but I am not sure.

I can find it in some dictionaries (especially under the spelling
'mobius') but no plural is mentioned. For example see:
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/Mobius

Given that it's a person's name (August Ferdinand Möbius) and that
what we're probably really talking about are "Möbius strips" or
"Möbius bands" there just may not be any official plural.

VP

"Vintage Purls" wrote in message
oups.com...

I can find it in some dictionaries (especially under the spelling
'mobius') but no plural is mentioned. For example see:
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/Mobius

Given that it's a person's name (August Ferdinand Möbius) and that
what we're probably really talking about are "Möbius strips" or
"Möbius bands" there just may not be any official plural.
--

Okay, if it is a person's name... or started out as such... that ends in an
's' then I have an input into this since my own last name is Hollands. If
we are talking about our family we say (spell) it Hollands'.... no 'es' on
the end.

*hugs*
Gemini

On Oct 29, 8:19 pm, "Not Likely" notinthislifetime@yougottabejoking
wrote:
Okay, if it is a person's name... or started out as such... that ends in an
's' then I have an input into this since my own last name is Hollands. If
we are talking about our family we say (spell) it Hollands'.... no 'es' on
the end.

The apostrophe indicates possession, for example: "That is Thomas'
coat". If you are talking about multiple people called Thomas then the
correct term is "Thomases".

I'm not super keen on mobiuses (because I think it clumsy, not because
I think it wrong) but I agree with Anastasia that is the correct
modern plural. I much prefer Octopi to Octopuses - call me old
fashioned.

I'm am exceedingly glad I didn't have to learn English as a second
language - it can't be easy, it's been my world of language since the
day I was born and I still have got the hang of it.

VP

On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 01:36:31 -0700, Vintage Purls wrote:


The apostrophe indicates possession, for example: "That is Thomas' coat".
If you are talking about multiple people called Thomas then the correct
term is "Thomases".

I'm not super keen on mobiuses (because I think it clumsy, not because I
think it wrong) but I agree with Anastasia that is the correct modern
plural. I much prefer Octopi to Octopuses - call me old fashioned.

I'm am exceedingly glad I didn't have to learn English as a second
language - it can't be easy, it's been my world of language since the day
I was born and I still have got the hang of it.

VP

Now you have hit the nail right on the head VP (lol). English is a most
difficult language to master and seems to have very little logic to it.
Like you, I am just very relieved I didn't have to learn it as a second
language either.

--
Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light

On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 01:39:41 -0500, Anastasia Luettecke wrote:

OED does not list a plural, although it does list Mobius as a noun. I'd
say that since it came into popular use within the last century, and since
it's a proper name, the plural form would most likely be Mobiuses. We
tend to use the Germanic "es" plural ending for most proper nouns
nowadays.

Anastasia

--Linguistics graduate student

snip

Thank you very much indeed for explaining that Anastasia, it explains it
clearly. I shall use the word moebiuses in future as that does make more
sense to me.

Bernadette

--
Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light

Bernadette wrote:
On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 01:36:31 -0700, Vintage Purls wrote:

The apostrophe indicates possession, for example: "That is Thomas' coat".
If you are talking about multiple people called Thomas then the correct
term is "Thomases".

I'm not super keen on mobiuses (because I think it clumsy, not because I
think it wrong) but I agree with Anastasia that is the correct modern
plural. I much prefer Octopi to Octopuses - call me old fashioned.

I'm am exceedingly glad I didn't have to learn English as a second
language - it can't be easy, it's been my world of language since the day
I was born and I still have got the hang of it.

VP

Now you have hit the nail right on the head VP (lol). English is a most
difficult language to master and seems to have very little logic to it.
Like you, I am just very relieved I didn't have to learn it as a second
language either.

It's only difficult because english is derived from both latin and
greek, with some german and french thrown in.

sue

Which is exactly why it would be an adjective, grammatically speaking.

Vintage Purls wrote:

Given that it's a person's name (August Ferdinand Möbius) and that
what we're probably really talking about are "Möbius strips" or
"Möbius bands" there just may not be any official plural.



--
Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your
work with excellence.

Not Likely wrote:

Okay, if it is a person's name... or started out as such... that ends in an
's' then I have an input into this since my own last name is Hollands. If
we are talking about our family we say (spell) it Hollands'.... no 'es' on
the end.

There are different styles of grammar -- Chicago Book of Style, Modern
Language Association, Associated Press, etc. -- and they are not
unanimous in what they feel is the proper plural, although most of them
say that you can do either -- either make it look like a plural
possessive as you did above or to add -es on the end, as in the old
saying, "keeping up with the Joneses."

--
Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your
work with excellence.

"Vintage Purls" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Oct 29, 8:19 pm, "Not Likely" notinthislifetime@yougottabejoking
wrote:
Okay, if it is a person's name... or started out as such... that ends in
an
's' then I have an input into this since my own last name is Hollands.
If
we are talking about our family we say (spell) it Hollands'.... no 'es'
on
the end.

The apostrophe indicates possession, for example: "That is Thomas'
coat". If you are talking about multiple people called Thomas then the
correct term is "Thomases".

I'm not super keen on mobiuses (because I think it clumsy, not because
I think it wrong) but I agree with Anastasia that is the correct
modern plural. I much prefer Octopi to Octopuses - call me old
fashioned.

I'm am exceedingly glad I didn't have to learn English as a second
language - it can't be easy, it's been my world of language since the
day I was born and I still have got the hang of it.

VP

I stand corrected. But correct or not, that's the way we deal with our
name... thankfully we don't have to do that often.

Gemini