Singular Plurals
Bet You Can't Have Just One


Very old English nouns may exhibit an irregular relationship between the singular and plural forms, as in foot and feet, mouse and mice. But most nouns construct the plural form in a simple, predictable way from the singular form. Rarely, though, one finds a word that is, or seems to be, a plural form, which would be judged to have been created in the regular way, except that there is scanty evidence of the presumptive singular form.

        to be in cahoots
        to be in the doldrums
        to drain the dregs
        to be down in the dumps
        to have the heebie jeebies
        the hustings
        to merit kudos
        the measles
        the mumps
        the munchies
        to suffer from the runs
        the screaming mimi's
        the willies
        the yaws
      


Last revised on 12 February 2008