This may be the UK/US divide, or it may just be my personal opinion <G>: I think the plural of "fish" is "fish", however many different species you may have. And similarly with "sheep": lots of them are still "sheep". And "lace" too: however many pieces of however many styles you have, the word is still just "lace".
The word "laces" makes me think of shoes; and "Laces of the Robber Barons", to me, implies the strings which hold the fronts of their jackets together <G>. Very Errol Flynn! Also I'm a lacemaker, and what I do is lacemaking. As I say, this may not be correct, but it's how my mind works here in the UK, with a Scottish upbringing ... Margery. ================================================ margerybu...@o2.co.uk in North Hertfordshire, UK ================================================ > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-l...@arachne.com [mailto:owner-l...@arachne.com] > On Behalf Of dmt11h...@aol.com > Sent: Thursday 19 March 2009 14:03 > To: robinl...@socal.rr.com; lace@arachne.com > Subject: Re: [lace] Lacemaking or Lace making-style manual needed > > Thank you Robin. It does make sense. I first encountered this > problem when I > read the Antique Laces of the American Collectors. Then I > devised my slide > show which I called The Laces of the Robber Barons. But the > more I said the > title, the worse it sounded. Now I refer to it as The Lace of > the Robber Barons, > on the theory that E.B.White, author of the classic American > style book, > said, that if it doesn't sound right, don't say it. What > would you say the > correct title of my slide show should be? > Devon > > > In a message dated 3/19/2009 1:43:20 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > robinl...@socal.rr.com writes: > > ---- dmt11h...@aol.com wrote: > Another English language style issue which needs resolution > in an official > lace style manual is whether the plural of lace is lace or > laces. ---- > > "Lace" can be like "fish" (the words, not the objects!). > Several of the > same species are "fish". Several different species are > "fishes". When talking > about the laces of several regions, it's pluralized. When > talking about the > category of textiles, we say "lace is made in many lands". > Note that the > verb is singlular ("is", not "are"), so "lace" is singlular. > I would say "I > have five pieces of lace", but again this is using "lace" as > a category, not a > bunch of objects. > > It's late, I'm tired, and I suspect this doesn't make much > sense, but I've > tried.... > > Robin P. > Los Angeles, California, USA > robinl...@socal.rr.com > > - - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
