Still Lifes or Still Lives?
M.C.
Context: painting. What's the plural of "still life"?
Robert Lieblich
>
> Gone braindead for a moment.
>
> Context: painting. What's the plural of "still life"?
Dictionaries say "still lifes." I agree.
Reflect on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
--
Bob Lieblich
Can't think of anything clever to write here
Michael DeBusk
<Robert....@Verizon.net> wrote:
> Dictionaries say "still lifes." I agree.
<sniplet>
> --
> Bob Lieblich
> Can't think of anything clever to write here
This is barely clever, but...
"Here is a still life... and here is another one."
--
Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place
Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet?
Martin Willett
> "M.C." wrote:
>>
>> Gone braindead for a moment.
>>
>> Context: painting. What's the plural of "still life"?
>
> Dictionaries say "still lifes." I agree.
>
> Reflect on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Correct. A still life is not a kind of life it is a kind of painting,
it defaults to the regular default English plural rule of add an s.
--
Martin Willett
Robert Lieblich
>
> Robert Lieblich wrote:
> > "M.C." wrote:
> >>
> >> Gone braindead for a moment.
> >>
> >> Context: painting. What's the plural of "still life"?
> >
> > Dictionaries say "still lifes." I agree.
> >
> > Reflect on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
>
> Correct. A still life is not a kind of life it is a kind of painting,
> it defaults to the regular default English plural rule of add an s.
Have you consulted a physician for a cure to your comma splices?
Perhaps you need to read Ms. Truss's book.
Here's a suggested fix: A still life is not a kind of "life" but a
kind of painting, and it takes the English default plural of an
added "s".
No charge.
--
Bob Lieblich
Well, this is an English usage group
Dylan Nicholson
> Robert Lieblich wrote:
> > "M.C." wrote:
> >>
> >> Gone braindead for a moment.
> >>
> >> Context: painting. What's the plural of "still life"?
> >
> > Dictionaries say "still lifes." I agree.
> >
> > Reflect on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
>
> Correct. A still life is not a kind of life it is a kind of painting,
> it defaults to the regular default English plural rule of add an s.
But is a low-life a type of life? Low-lives seems to be considered
valid by some dictionaries. There seem to be a few other similar
exceptions to the general rule, e.g. cloverleaves, dogteeth, and of
course midwives (far more common than midwifes).
Dylan
Martin Willett
Ah. Midwives. Tricky one. People obviously do think of midwives as in
some way a type of wife, as this usage demonstrates. But people don't
think of a mongoose as a type of goose, possibly something to do with
the lack of feathers.
I see low-lives as wrong. If you are a low-life you are not a life.
As for still lifes I say Cézanne and Van Gogh were expert at
still-lifing, expert still lifers, producing numerous still lifes
throught their lives and no doubt they would still be still lifing now
if they were still living.