A Roman Walks Into a Bar

A Roman walks into a bar and tells the bartender, “I’d like a martinus.” The bartender says, “You mean a martini.” “No,” says the Roman, “I only want one.” English is a funny language — in both senses of the word. English incorporates words from other languages, and sometimes that means the usual rules don’t work. Usually, we add “s” to the end of a word to make it plural or “es” if the word ends in s, sh, ch, or z. But more than one stimulus are “stimuli,” not “stimuluses.”

Originally published February 23, 2015 0 3