Wildepad wrote:
> I understand the question mark. I know "virii" looks odd, but I got
> into the habit of using it because the spellcheck on a WP that I had
> about 15 years ago balked at "viruses" -- it wouldn't even let me put
> it into the spelling dictionary without creating a special exception
> to the standard rules. Since every major dictionary lists it, who am I
> to argue?
Which major dictionaries list it as being a correct plural of _virus_?
If so, insert said dictionary into trash. m-w.com certainly doesn't
recognize it as being the proper pluralization, because it clearly
isn't. (It's pretty obvious why; if you were supposed to follow the
same pattern of pluralization as, say, _radius_, then it's _still_
spelled wrong.)
As for 15-year-old word processors ... there's not much more to say to
that than perhaps you shouldn't take 15-year-old word processors'
dictionary lists too seriously.
> (Reading "genii" is a real stumbling block for me because it can be
> the plural for either genie or genius, and I always think of the wrong
> one.)
No, it really can't. The plural of _genius_ is _geniuses_.
>> avoid that, toughen up a little bit, and go airborn, which has a
>> much better chance of encountering a new host. It just requires the
>> host be close, not in contact.
>
> Obviously a million airborne, each with a 1 in a 1,000,000 chance, is
> a sure thing while a few hundred, each with a 1 in 1,000, is far less
> effective, but considering the number of varieties, I would expect a
> niche of contact-transmission diseases to thrive.
>
>
>>> Result: a simple handshake leads to psychopathy.
>> Or, for even more SFnal truth, a virus that does the opposite - makes
>> an organism bond more strongly into social groupings in peaceful,
>> friendly fa****on. Getting a bunch of organisms to willingly remain in
>> close contact, while not being violently disfunctional, increases the
>> odds of transmission... and breeding more potential hosts.
>
> More from my cynical side than anything else, I suspect that it would
> be a real trick to reduce aggression without significantly reducing
> the *** drive.
> --
--
Erik Max Francis && max@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
&& http://www.alcyone.com/max/
San Jose, CA, USA && 37 18 N 121 57 W && AIM, Y!M erikmaxfrancis
Money talks / But love is for real / And you know that
-- Neneh Cherry
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