英语语法：102 What Is the Plural of Scissors?

Grammar Girl here. Today’s topic is when plurals² have no singular.

A listener named Brent called in with this question: "I have a question: how come pants, trousers, slacks, corduroys are all plurals even though there is only one of them?"

Guest writer Sal Glynn writes:

Nouns are sociable³. They like to be more than singular. A tooth hangs out with teeth, a matrix is bored without the company of matrices, and a crisis can’t wait to mingle⁴ with other crises. Even proper nouns that are the names of places and people enjoy being a few instead of one:

“There are too many Henriks in this boat for my taste,” said Daphne.

But in every community there is the exception, and a plural¹ noun may refuse to be singular (1) like those in Brent's examples. This type of nouns is known as a defective⁵ noun, also called a plurale tantum. The appearance of these words is more the effect of time on language than the fault of lexicographers. Besides occurring in English, defective nouns also occur in Arabic, Greek, and Latin.

Starting with Measles⁶

Let's start with the measles, the name for the nasty childhood illness that's caused unknown days of missed schooling⁷, comes from the Middle English mesele (2).That was the name given to the red circle characteristic of the highly contagious⁸ disease. But since the mesele rarely showed up as one, its plural came into use and shoved out the singular. Measles is a noun that can take a singular or a plural verb. You could say, “Measles is caused by a virus,” or “The measles are making Daphne crazy.”

Kicking at Scissors

On to scissors! The Latin had it right when this cutting tool was called the "ciscoria," with a "c," which meant "cutting instrument." Sometime in the 16th century, the word started being spelled with an "s" instead of a "c" ("sisours"), because it became confused or intermingled with the Latin word "scissor" (with an "s" like we spell it today), which means "tailor." You can call the two-bladed cutting tool simply scissors or you can call it a pair of scissors.

Pants in the Family

And finally getting to Brent's question, what about pants? According to "Esquire Magazine" (3), the stylish⁹ man calls them “trousers,” the unstylish man calls them “slacks,” the antiquated¹⁰ and most likely extinguished man calls them “breeches,” and the indifferent man calls them “pants.” The word "pants" originated in the French “pantaloon,” meaning tights, and comes from the character named “Pantaloun” in a sixteenth century Italian comedy. Pantaloun was a ridiculous old man who wore tight pants to show off his skinny legs. How this happened is anyone’s guess. Going back even further, Pantaleone [pan-ta-le-on-e] is from the Greek and means “all-compassionate.” (I think my guest writer Sal is trying to punish me with all the foreign words in this episode. I apologize, because I'm sure I've mispronounced at least some of them.)

Sometime in 1840, pantaloon became pants and has been plural ever since. Cut a pair of pants in half and you have a wrecked¹¹ pair of pants. There can be a pant leg, but pants remain pants. The phrase, “to fly by the seat of your pants” comes from World War II, when pilots monitored the condition of their planes by the engine vibrations¹² coming through their pants.

Now that you understand how to use measles, scissors, and pants, remember the quick and dirty tip is that defective nouns are the same whether you're talking about one or a hundred of them and they are the way they are because of quirks¹³ in the way words evolve through the ages.

That's all. Thanks for listening.

 

1 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。

2 plurals   

n.复数，复数形式( plural的名词复数 )

参考例句：

3 sociable   

adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的

参考例句：

• Roger is a very sociable person.罗杰是个非常好交际的人。
• Some children have more sociable personalities than others.有些孩子比其他孩子更善于交际。

4 mingle   

vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往

参考例句：

• If we mingle with the crowd,we should not be noticed.如果我们混在人群中，就不会被注意到。
• Oil will not mingle with water.油和水不相融。

5 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。

6 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

7 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

8 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

9 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。

10 antiquated   

adj.陈旧的，过时的

参考例句：

• Many factories are so antiquated they are not worth saving.很多工厂过于陈旧落后，已不值得挽救。
• A train of antiquated coaches was waiting for us at the siding.一列陈旧的火车在侧线上等着我们。

11 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

12 vibrations   

n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动

参考例句：

• We could feel the vibrations from the trucks passing outside. 我们可以感到外面卡车经过时的颤动。
• I am drawn to that girl; I get good vibrations from her. 我被那女孩吸引住了，她使我产生良好的感觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 quirks   

n.奇事，巧合( quirk的名词复数 )；怪癖

参考例句：

• One of his quirks is that he refuses to travel by train. 他的怪癖之一是不愿乘火车旅行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All men have their own quirks and twists. 人人都有他们自己的怪癖和奇想。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》