Is "Virus" Singular or Plural? Viruses, Hands Down!
Gamers and tech geeks alike need to know that the plural form of "virus" is straight up "viruses" – no fancy Latin in sight! I know, I know, after grinding through battles against Teemo‘s annoying poison DoT spells in League of Legends, you‘d think "virii" or "viri" would fly. Hard pass. Stick an "es" on virus and call it a day.
See, here‘s the tea. In English, most plural nouns just get an "s" tacked on. Simple enough, yeah? That‘s why we say one virus, two viruses. Virus came from the Latin "virus" meaning poison sludge, but it had no plural form back in the day. So we handle plurals the English way! Savvy?
Now I know you ambitious linguists will argue "but virus ends in ‘-us‘! Make it like the Latin 2nd declension!" Sorry champs, virus is a tricksy neuter noun, not a masculine one. Neuters like their plurals to end in ‘-a‘, so we‘d be rocking "vira" if anything. But viruses flows better when we‘re talking sick burns, code injections, and virtual plagues wiping Newbie Village off the map!
Etymology of "Virus" – From Poison Slime to Digital Disease
Virus first oozed into the English tongue around 1392, dragged from the Latin word for "poisonous slime" or "venom." All slimy things that infect living creatures. Stay with me now – languages mutate faster than RNA strands!
By 1898 virus expanded from natural contagions to cultures infected in the lab. Eventually becoming software that hijacks systems, deletes game saves (gasps!), and digitally spreads disease to vulnerable code. Kind of like that infamous StormTrooper aim meme infecting message boards everywhere! 😆
So our plural stuck to handle multiple computer viruses, viral videos, virulent ideas, etc. After all, one virus can replicate into many! Like me meticulously breeding an army of perfect IV Squirtles during a Pokémon playthrough. It takes time, but every virus…I mean turtle…counts!
Why We Don‘t Use "Viri" or "Virii"
Look, if we studied Latin we‘d know virus as a 2nd declension neuter noun likely pluralized to "vira." But we‘re gamers, not ancient scribes! That ship sailed when we picked "viruses." Suppose virus was a 2nd declension masculine noun though. Then the plural could have been "viri." Buuut…it‘s NOT masculine! This stuff matters in Latin.
Meanwhile, "virii" ends in a double i, confusing people into thinking it‘s genitive singular or nominative plural. News flash – it‘s neither! And "viri" still pretends virus is masculine, which it never was. So can the weird Frankenstein plurals already! We‘ve settled on "viruses" in common use. Deal with it Linguini!
Pluralization Rules for Other Words
I know you special snowflakes wanna be different with "virii." What if other words pluralized oddly too? Fungi keeps the Latin ending to sound educated, right? Well sure, but fungus was always 2nd declension masculine in Latin, so "-i" fits naturally. Virus wasn‘t!
We COULD twist other words like octopi (octopuses), phoenixes (phonices?), or mongoose (mongeese). Butchkicking viruses as "viri" when they were NEVER masculine nouns in Latin? That‘s just pretentious, dawg. Keep it simple – viruses has our backs in English…and our fronts facing those rampaging Resident Evil zombies!
By the Numbers: Viruses in Gaming and IRL
One rogue virus replicating on code or in cells can eradicate ENTIRE worlds virtually and literally! Don‘t believe me? Feast your eyes:
- Over 629 million computer viruses floated about in 2022 alone 1
- The COVID-19 virus infected 639 million people globally thus far 2
- Estimates show the dreaded smallpox virus killed off 300-500 million people in the 20th century before its vaccine heroically defeated the virii…I mean viruses! 3
See what I mean? That‘s BILLIONS of viruses replicated from patient zeroes to digital pandemics and real-world tragedies. If "viri" confuses people into thinking one virus instance matters most, that causes misinformation which spreads like, well, viruses! 😬
We stick to "viruses" for good reason. Clarity saves multiplayer servers and actual lives!
Verdict: "Viruses" Unanimously Wins the Plural Vote!
So there you have it folks – virus was always a singular neuter noun in its Latin toddler days. Without an attested classical plural form back then, modern English handled the dirty work. Maybe "vira" rolls off ancient Roman tongues better, but "viruses" enduringly stuck through centuries of linguistic chaos.
Could "viri" or "virii" work? I guess, but they confusingly impose masculine qualities on our genderless contagions! And that distracts from the urgent threat of malicious codes and pathological agents jeopardizing servers and populations IRL. 😱
In the end, saying "viruses" unambiguously signals awareness and caution. So the more we get infected by THAT plural, the quicker we spread wisdom resisting , hacking back against, and boosting our virtual/actual immunity from these ongoing viral onslaughts! 💪😷
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