Unfeasibly vast amphibian found croaked on video card

I'm willing to bet

you kissed it just in case...

The plural

of English words ending in -us is often problematic, as evidenced by the common disagreement over whether a word should become pluralised by adding -es or by removing the -us and adding -i or even -ii.

Obviously, what is right is what is in common usage, so in a sense, everyone who uses one of the above is 'right', if enough other people use it.

But tempers get heated and there is a desire among us grammar nazis to see mere normal people use the 'right' form.

What should guide people into forming correct plurals of -us ending words is a knowledge of how the word is derived from Greek or Latin.

This knowledge is increasingly rare these days. Its absence is a sure sign of State rather than Private education.

Contrary to common belief, many -us ending words do not pluralise 'correctly' by replacing the -us with -i, but simply by adding -es:

Octopus - derivation Greek. Plural Octopuses.

Bus - derivation Greek. Plural buses.

Virus - derivation Latin. No Latin plural. English plural viruses

Syllabus - derivation Latin. Plural syllabuses

However,

Prospectus - derivation Latin. Plural prospecti

Ignoramus - derivation Latin. Technically already a plural (of ignoro).

Whatever you do here to pluralise, ignorami is incorrect.

As readers of Register are all geniuses, they will be pleased to know that the correct plural of genius is not genii, but as I have indicated, geniuses.

When in doubt, google authoritative sources, do not put what you believe to be right as it is so often wrong

Have a nice day

Hippopotamus

Doofus - derivation the American gutter. Plural - whatever you like

Differences :

Toads and frogs have many similarities, including the way they look. But there are some basic differences between them. Toads have dry, warty skin, while frogs have smooth, wet skin. Frogs have tiny teeth on both upper and lower jaws, while toads lack any teeth. Frogs have longer hind legs than toads. So frogs jump, while toads hop. Female toads lay there eggs them in long, parallel strings, while female frogs lay their eggs singly, in small or large clumps, on the water surface.