Plural Hertz.

Jerry Avins wrote:
> One cycle per second is one Hertz. Is two cycles per second two Hertzes? 
> If not, why not?
> 
> Because "Hertz" is a name, and I think even not an english
> name, so you cannot freely pluralize it.

I'm not so sure. I think 'hertz' in German also means 'heart'. 
Hey, I've never seen that one before! I don't remember much German, 
but I thing that makes the plural "viele Hertzen"...

> > Related questions:
> > 
> > What is the plural of mongoose?

Mongeese...
 
> Well, actullay I would ask: what has to do a "goose"
> with a mongoose...?

Don't know. I only remember I read that story by Kipling once, 
the one with a mongoose and a cobra. It appears that mongeese 
has lots to do with cobras, which in turn might have something 
to do with gooses in Indian farms...
 
> Anyway mongooses seems to be quite used (check with google)
> 
> > If 7 troops is the same as 7 soldiers, why can't we write of 1 troop?

I've always been confused 'bout that one. I norwegian, "1 tropp"
is what the English would designate "1 platoon". It could be 
that some ancient etymology is involved? 

> Why not?
> Still google returns a lot of results searching for "one troop"
> 
> > How many pants in one pair of pants? What are they?

How useful is one scissor? Where can I get one 'ocular' as in 
'binoculars'? What should you always have over your car?
Why am I in my office at 9 PM on a sunday afternoon? Still confused?
Not after reading the next posts on comp.dsp...

Rune

"Rune Allnor" schrieb 
> Jerry Avins wrote:
> > One cycle per second is one Hertz. 
> > Is two cycles per second two Hertzes? 
> > If not, why not?
> > 
> > Because "Hertz" is a name, and I think even not an english
> > name, so you cannot freely pluralize it.
> 
> I'm not so sure. I think 'hertz' in German also means 
> 'heart'. 
> Hey, I've never seen that one before! I don't remember much
> German, but I thing that makes the plural "viele Hertzen"...
They sound the same, but heart is written Herz (note the 
missing t). Hertz is the name of the 19th century physicist.

My explanation is that Hz usually (*) don't come alone, but 
always in groups (just as sheep do), hence no plural.

(*) as always, an exception to rule, IIRC: seismics.

>
> [mongoose / mongeese]
> 
> Don't know. I only remember I read that story by Kipling 
> once, the one with a mongoose and a cobra. 
>
"Rikki-tikki-tavi" is my favorite story from Kipling's 
Jungle Book. And Kipling speaks of mongooses.


> 
> I've always been confused 'bout that one. I norwegian, "1
>  tropp" is what the English would designate "1 platoon". It 
> could be that some ancient etymology is involved? 
>
In German, 1 "Trupp" is a group of soldiers, IIRC smaller than
a platoon. "Truppen" is the word for the army ("die Truppen
der Alliierten" - the allied armies).
Yes, I think the words stem from a common base.

> > 
> > > How many pants in one pair of pants? What are they?
> 
The pipes / tubes / stoves you put your legs in??

> How useful is one scissor? 
Err, well, ...

> Where can I get one 'ocular' as in 'binoculars'? 
Ehhm, what are these things called Admiral Nelson had when he 
looked out for the French fleet? Monooculars?

> What should you always have over your car?
Now this is a good riddle. An angel watching over you?

> Why am I in my office at 9 PM on a sunday afternoon?
> Still confused?
This gets harder and harder. I have to bail out.

Regards
Martin

Rune Allnor wrote:

> Jerry Avins wrote:
> 
>>One cycle per second is one Hertz. Is two cycles per second two Hertzes? 
>>If not, why not?
>>
>>Because "Hertz" is a name, and I think even not an english
>>name, so you cannot freely pluralize it.
> 
> 
> I'm not so sure. I think 'hertz' in German also means 'heart'. 
> Hey, I've never seen that one before! I don't remember much German, 
> but I thing that makes the plural "viele Hertzen"...
> 
> 
>>>Related questions:
>>>
>>>What is the plural of mongoose?
> 
> 
> Mongeese...

Further "research" indicates "mongooses". An old dictionary lists 
"mongoz" as the preferred spelling (what did they know!).

>>Well, actullay I would ask: what has to do a "goose"
>>with a mongoose...?
> 
> 
> Don't know. I only remember I read that story by Kipling once, 
> the one with a mongoose and a cobra. It appears that mongeese 
> has lots to do with cobras, which in turn might have something 
> to do with gooses in Indian farms...

Riki Tiki Tavi.

> 
>>Anyway mongooses seems to be quite used (check with google)
>>
>>
>>>If 7 troops is the same as 7 soldiers, why can't we write of 1 troop?
> 
> 
> I've always been confused 'bout that one. I norwegian, "1 tropp"
> is what the English would designate "1 platoon". It could be 
> that some ancient etymology is involved? 

Not ancient. Modern news-reporter PC speak. A group of Boy Scouts is a
Troop. "Soldier" is specifically army and implicitly male. "Troops" was
adopted as an inclusive term. The inherent idiocy of that use is
revealed by the singular.

>>Why not?
>>Still google returns a lot of results searching for "one troop"
>>
>>
>>>How many pants in one pair of pants? What are they?
> 
> 
> How useful is one scissor? Where can I get one 'ocular' as in 
> 'binoculars'?

"Binoculars" is short for "Binocular telescopes", but the term had taken
on an implication about configuration -- Porro erecting prisms. A
similar arrangement for one eye is called a "monocular". Nowadays, when
binoculars with roof prisms are common, even that distinction is losing
lost and any small handy telescope for one eye is called a monocular.
See http://www.otherlandtoys.co.uk/product1017/product_info.html and
http://www.opticsplanet.net/littlemak.html. Plain "ocular" is short for
"ocular lens" -- compare to "objective" -- and means "eyepiece".

> What should you always have over your car?

What?

> Why am I in my office at 9 PM on a sunday afternoon? Still confused?
> Not after reading the next posts on comp.dsp...

So what? I'm always confused anyway.

> Rune

Jerry
-- 
... they proceeded on the sound principle that the magnitude of a lie
always contains a certain factor of credibility, ... and that therefor
... they more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a little one ...
                                                                   A. H.
�����������������������������������������������������������������������

Martin Blume wrote:

   ...

>>Where can I get one 'ocular' as in 'binoculars'? 
> 
> Ehhm, what are these things called Admiral Nelson had when he 
> looked out for the French fleet? Monooculars?

You mean those contraptions of nesting brass tubes that (ahem) telescope 
for storage? The things we call monoculars don't do that.

Jerry
-- 
... they proceeded on the sound principle that the magnitude of a lie
always contains a certain factor of credibility, ... and that therefor
... they more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a little one ...
                                                                   A. H.
�����������������������������������������������������������������������

Rune Allnor wrote:

> I'm not so sure. I think 'hertz' in German also means 'heart'. 
> Hey, I've never seen that one before! I don't remember much German, 
> but I thing that makes the plural "viele Hertzen"...

Sure it means "heart", but this does not allows
anyway to make it plural!

Hertz, as person name, is Hertz for one or more.
The unit is "hertz" and that's a different story.
Note that "hertz" is not "heart" in german, because
it has always uppercase, since it is a noun.

> Mongeese...

Actually it seems there is some confusion, I can find
"geese" and "gooses", what's correct?

bye,

-- 
   Piergiorgio Sartor

Piergiorgio Sartor wrote:

> Sure it means "heart", but this does not allows
> anyway to make it plural!

Ops, I just realize I'm wrong.
Herz -> heart, not Hertz.

Even if I can suspect some connection...

bye,

-- 
   Piergiorgio Sartor

"Martin Blume" <mblume@socha.net> wrote in message news:<415719ed$0$21019$5402220f@news.sunrise.ch>...
> "Rune Allnor" schrieb 
> > Jerry Avins wrote:
> > > One cycle per second is one Hertz. 
> > > Is two cycles per second two Hertzes? 
> > > If not, why not?
> > > 
> > > Because "Hertz" is a name, and I think even not an english
> > > name, so you cannot freely pluralize it.
> > 
> > I'm not so sure. I think 'hertz' in German also means 
> > 'heart'. 
> > Hey, I've never seen that one before! I don't remember much
> > German, but I thing that makes the plural "viele Hertzen"...
> They sound the same, but heart is written Herz (note the 
> missing t). Hertz is the name of the 19th century physicist.

Thanks. That link between the name Hertz and the periodic heart 
beat was just too good to be true.

> My explanation is that Hz usually (*) don't come alone, but 
> always in groups (just as sheep do), hence no plural.
> 
> (*) as always, an exception to rule, IIRC: seismics.

I've worked in that field, although not in the field, my field 
experience is in fthe field of underwater acoustics. On analyzing 
the acoustic field. I have never heard mentioned what a 'seismic'
might be. Except as an adjective, e.g. 'seismic field'.

Which reminds me, is 'data' singular or plural? 

> 
> >
> > [mongoose / mongeese]
> > 
> > Don't know. I only remember I read that story by Kipling 
> > once, the one with a mongoose and a cobra. 
> >
> "Rikki-tikki-tavi" is my favorite story from Kipling's 
> Jungle Book. And Kipling speaks of mongooses.

That's the one. I read the English version, but can't find the book.
Thanks.

Rune

Jerry Avins <jya@ieee.org> wrote in message news:<41572112$0$4039$61fed72c@news.rcn.com>...
> Martin Blume wrote:
> 
>    ...
> 
> >>Where can I get one 'ocular' as in 'binoculars'? 
> > 
> > Ehhm, what are these things called Admiral Nelson had when he 
> > looked out for the French fleet? Monooculars?
> 
> You mean those contraptions of nesting brass tubes that (ahem) telescope 
> for storage? 

That's another word I never understood. What does "scope" in 
"Telescope" refer to? Visual aid (as in oscilloscope, microscope)
or "extension", i.e how one operated the early versions? Does "telescope" 
refer to operateion, so that any later conjunctions between '-scope' 
and 'visual aide' are derived from the 'telescope'? The name should, 
ideally, refer to function, what the thing helps you do. One "sees far" 
with it, hence it should be named "television", shouldn't it?

> The things we call monoculars don't do that.

Right, that one slipped my mind. The Norwegian 'monokkel' refers to 
the one-glass spectacles that mostly are seen in charicature cartoons 
of 19th-century gentlemen. 'Lorgnett' is another word that is (was)
used for the same thing; I guess it has some French origin.

Rune

Jerry Avins <jya@ieee.org> wrote in message news:<41571f1f$0$4044$61fed72c@news.rcn.com>...
> Rune Allnor wrote:
> 
> > Jerry Avins wrote:

> >>>If 7 troops is the same as 7 soldiers, why can't we write of 1 troop?
> > 
> > 
> > I've always been confused 'bout that one. I norwegian, "1 tropp"
> > is what the English would designate "1 platoon". It could be 
> > that some ancient etymology is involved? 
> 
> Not ancient. Modern news-reporter PC speak. A group of Boy Scouts is a
> Troop. "Soldier" is specifically army and implicitly male. "Troops" was
> adopted as an inclusive term. The inherent idiocy of that use is
> revealed by the singular.

Yes, I know. I meant the root of the word 'troop/tropp/trupp' might 
be found in ancient times. Scouts are military-inspired, right? Didn't 
Baden-Powell use the scout movement as some sort of bre-boot camp 
preparation of soon-to-be military recruits? On the other hand, 
at least in the Scandinavian languages, a 'trupp' (slightly different 
from the military 'tropp') refers to teams of e.g. circus artists, 
like acrobates. The word seems to refer to a small group of people who 
are trained to cooperate to do difficult things. Or they are just 
'scandinavifications' of other languages' uses of the term.
 
> > What should you always have over your car?
> 
> What?

'Control'. Persistent rumours indicate that this question (it works in 
Norwegian, I don't know if the preposition 'over' is correct in 
English), formulated exactly as above, was given during an examination 
for the driver's licence some time during the 1960ies. I haven't been 
able to find confirmations, though.
 
> > Why am I in my office at 9 PM on a sunday afternoon? Still confused?
> > Not after reading the next posts on comp.dsp...
> 
> So what? I'm always confused anyway.
> 
> > Rune
> 
> Jerry

Rune

"Rune Allnor" <allnor@tele.ntnu.no> wrote in message
news:f56893ae.0409262355.4efe7bc6@posting.google.com...
> > The things we call monoculars don't do that.
>
> Right, that one slipped my mind. The Norwegian 'monokkel' refers to
> the one-glass spectacles that mostly are seen in charicature cartoons
> of 19th-century gentlemen. 'Lorgnett' is another word that is (was)
> used for the same thing; I guess it has some French origin.


Hello Rune,
Actually what I know to be called monoculars literally is one half a
binoculars. And they actually use a porro prism to correct the image
inversion.

A monocle as you have stated is for correcting bad vision where only one eye
has a problem. A famous (in American TV) character with a moncle was Colonel
Clink portrayed by Werner Klemperer. The folowing link has some pictures.
Scroll down the page and you will see his monocle. He even showed up on the
cartoon show the Simpsons.

http://www.hogansheroesfanclub.com/castKlempererWerner.php#albums

Clay