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Latest post Tue, Dec 23 2008 4:31 PM by Clive. 14 replies.
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greysteel  +  18993 Mon, 12 Jan 04 06:49 PM
What is the correct plural form for "mouse" in the sense of computer mouse? On the analogy of"Walkman" shouldn't it be "mouses"? Whether "mouses" or "mice" can anyone cite usages in print?
Joined on Mon, Jan 12 2004
New Member 02
dinosm  +  19027 Tue, 13 Jan 04 03:16 AM
Everywhere I've seen it, they call them 'mice', as I believe is the correct form.

'Walkman' is a complex word that means something entirely different than its constituent words, i.e. it does not refer to a man who is walking. In this case, 'man' doesn't carry its original meaning any more, but it simply a part of a larger word, whose plural should therefore end with a regular suffix '-s'.

A computer mouse, even if it isn't a real live walking cheese-gnawing animal, is still two separate words, one of which ('mouse') denotes something we unanimously call a mouse. Since it is a very much individual word, it will follow its irregular pattern and become mice when we want to talk about 'computer mice'.

Sony evades the issue by talking about 'Walkman Personal Stereos', and some companies do the same thing by referring to 'mouse devices' instead of mice (e.g. Microsoft, on the right-hand side of this page). Other companies however (e.g. MicroDirect, on the product headers on this page) choose the easier way and just call them what they are - mice.
Joined on Fri, Nov 28 2003
Manchester, U.K.
New Member 43
kubicon  +  19118 Tue, 13 Jan 04 05:38 PM
>> Everywhere I've seen it, they call them 'mice', as I believe is the correct form.

That's not neccessarily correct. The plural of the name of the hardware used to move the pointer on a computer screen is not mice. No one, not even the inventor of the mouse, agrees on the proper terminology for the plural name of this device. Thus, many companies, such as Microsoft, use the term "Mouse devices", not "Mice".
Joined on Tue, Jan 13 2004
New Member 04
Guest, 5 yr 63 days ago
The name "mouse" for the computer device originally came from an acronym and so "mouses" is more correct.
See http://www.faqfarm.com/Computer/382 or http://www.saugus.net/Computer/Terms/mouse/view for more details.
Guest, 5 yr 63 days ago
Not again! We had a very long discussion on this on one of the threads a couple of months ago. Can someone find it and link?
Mister Micawber  +  46712 Wed, 22 Sep 04 10:30 AM

Hmm... been here a couple of months at least, actively involved in discussions, and not yet registered, Guest? How about registering and putting a name to yourself so we can get to know you?

Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004
Yokohama
Veteran Member 30,798
'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'
Anonymous, 3 yr 139 days ago
Mouse is called a Manually Operated User-Selection Equipment so if you changed that to Mice what would that stand for? so taking that into account the correct term is M.O.U.S.E.'s
Clive  +  243578 Fri, 07 Jul 06 08:31 PM

Hi guys,

MICE  - Manual Interface Control Equipment.

Clive

Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004
Canada
Veteran Member 29,612
El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo
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