Re: Microsoft Manual of Style

[Greg Moore <gmoore -at- REALTIME -dot- NET>]

First let me state that I don't have a particularly strong opinion about
the "right" answer to pluralizing "mouse".  In fact, I think it's an
interesting example precisely because the computer mouse hasn't been around
long enough for all native speakers of English to have a firm idea of what
sounds best in the plural.  But I think eventually a "correct" form of the
plural will gain acceptance; it just might take 10 or 20 years.  This kind
of thing happens all the time as language evolves.  In baseball, for
example, you can "fly out".  In the past tense, you can say, for example,
"He flied out to right" or "He flew out to right", but "flied out" makes it
clear that you are talking about baseball.  By the same logic, one can
understand that some native speakers might want to avoid the irregular
plural ("mice") and say "mouses" since that will make it clear that the
subject is a computer mouse.  I'm not saying this is correct, just that
there is a certain logic to it that may in the end prevail (i.e., gain wide
acceptance).  In the meantime, I would just try to avoid using the term in
the plural if possible.
Greg Moore | gmoore -at- realtime -dot- net
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