RE: virii

["Brooks R. Robinson" <brooks.robinson@rides.com>]

| >>Even more offtopic: the plural of virus isn't virii. It isn't
| viri either.
| >>Virus in Latin doesn't have the same meaning as it has in English: it
| >>already is a sort of plural  (like rice or sand) and 'virii'
| simply doesn't
| >>exist in Latin.
| >
| > I think that Nate was quoting me there, and I know that virii isn't
| > a real word (and gnome-spell reminds me in squiggly red lines!).
| > It's mock-latin (just like, apparently, some like to write in
| > mock-german).
| >

Would a better case be a comparison of Hippopotamus?

robinson:~$ dict Hippopotamus
2 definitions found

>From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:

  Hippopotamus \Hip`po*pot"a*mus\, n.; pl. E. {Hippopotamuses}, L.
     {Hippopotami}. [L., from Gr.?; "i`ppos horse + ? river. Cf.
     {Equine}.] (Zo["o]l.)
     A large, amphibious, herbivorous mammal ({Hippopotamus
     amphibius}), common in the rivers of Africa. It is allied to
     the hogs, and has a very thick, naked skin, a thick and
     square head, a very large muzzle, small eyes and ears, thick
     and heavy body, and short legs. It is supposed to be the
     behemoth of the Bible. Called also {zeekoe}, and {river
     horse}. A smaller species ({H. Liberiencis}) inhabits Western
     Africa.

>From WordNet (r) 1.7 [wn]:

  hippopotamus
       n : massive thick-skinned herbivorous animal living in or around
           rivers of tropical Africa [syn: {hippo}, {river horse},
{Hippopotamus
           amphibius}]

So, I think viri (like Hippopotami) would be the best choice!

Lending to the OTness,

Brooks


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