At dinner with colleagues while on a business trip in Manila, one of them asks, "Do you know what the plural of mongoose is?"
I know the answer. It's mongeese. But I try to be modest about it. "It's mongeese I think," I tell him.
"Really? They're not related to geese you know," he says. "The plural of a moose isn't meese," he adds.
"I'm pretty sure it's mongeese," I say, now not so sure. (Later I check. The plural is either mongoose or mongeese.)
Another colleague pipes up. "Do you know what the plural of cannon is?"
The folks at the table look around at each other. "I don't suppose it's cannons?" someone suggests.
The knowing colleague shakes his head. "This one I know for sure. I got it wrong at a spelling contest. I'll never forget it. The plural of cannon is cannon."
I didn't know that. And Iater I check. He's right. Of course, dictionaries will say the plural can be cannons but really, the plural of cannon is cannon. Wow, the things you learn at the dinner table.
