Normally, the plural of mouse is mice when you are referring to those real rodents. However, in the case of a “mouse” used for the computer, can you still use the plural form “mice”, “computer mice” if you are referring to lots of computer mouse? “Computer mouses” i guess is not proper. What do you think?
Computer mouses or computer mice?
October 4th, 2005 by karuro
65 Responses to “Computer mouses or computer mice?”
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This is a tough one, because there really is no official ruling on this usage yet. Computer companies usually avoid this problem by using the phrase "mouse devices" instead. I would advise the same strategy if you mention the equipment in a formal paper, article, etc.
Since neither "mouses" nor "mice" is the official plural of "computer mouse," using either one is acceptable. Technically, since "mouse" is an acronym for "manually-operated user-select equipemtn," it sound probably be pluralized as "mouses." But since hardly anyone is aware of the word’s etymology, and because it sounds less awkward, most people pluralize it as "mice."
Ahem. That should be "manually-operated user-select equipMENT." Sorry!
If mouse is an acronym for "manually-operated user-select equipment" and equipment is plural already, wouldn’t mouse (as an acronym) be plural already?
Would this really matter since usually a computer only has one computer mouse?
<< If mouse is an acronym for "manually-operated user-select equipment" and equipment is plural already, wouldn’t mouse (as an acronym) be plural already? >>
Technically, yes. However, since few people know that "mouse" is an acronym, writing the plural form as "mouse" would simply confuse your audience.
<< Would this really matter since usually a computer only has one computer mouse? >>
Yes, it does matter. The fact that one computer has only one mouse is irrelevant. There are many computer mouse devices in existence. What if you wanted to write about the variety of mouse devices at Office Max? Or compose an inventory of computer equipment for a company?
neither of them are correct.
cold_fusionMX: Computer companies usually avoid this problem by using the phrase "mouse devices" instead???
cold_fusionMX: weird..
cold_fusionMX: sir we sell mouse devices
mei lang: heheh they didn’t know the mouse is akready a device
cold_fusionMX: mouse is a device for PC..
mei lang: it’s like a computer shop saying…we also sell computers
cold_fusionMX: so do u have device that could make ur mouse an iron?
karuro11: you said u have mouse devices..
mei lang: heh
Um, guys, Doug Engelbart invented the mouse. He called it a mouse cause he thought it was cute AND the long cord reminded him of the disproportionately long tail on a real mouse. It is NOT a legitimate acronym. The letters MOUSE can, indeed, stand for the phrases you folks stated, but those letter assignments were made AFTER Engelbart coined the term.
Everyplace I have ever worked, we called the plural "mice" as in "are there any extra mice around?". Presumably that would not be ambiguous except in a lab setting with both lab mice and computer mice!
I think "computer mouses" sounds better, although it is probably a case of personal preference until there is an offical ruling on it.
Every mouse manufacturer and their grandmothers refer to them as "mice".
<<Computer companies usually avoid this problem by using the phrase "mouse devices" instead???>>
As brilliant as you think you are, I’m a tech writer who works with computer and software companies. Believe me, these companies use the phrase "mouse devices" to avoid the sticky plural argument.
I’m sorry. I’m afraid I have to agree with Bubba. From now on, I’m going to refer to it as a computer MOOSE. and when I have TWO computers, I’m gonna have TWO computer MOOSE!!!!
After all, the MOOSE is a cute animal, but its tail is rather stubby. I guess that would make mine a WIRELESS MOOSE!!!!
meese.
meeses if you wanna be real cute about it.
Meeses.
X)
No, Mousies. Computer Mousies.
Pronounced mou-seez. Yaiy.
MOUSES!!
"manually-operated user-select equipment"
It’s a backronym, but a very plausible one. ¬¬
There is no such thing as an official ruling. Language doesn’t work that way. In this case, the plural chosen in a natural language fashion would be ‘mouses’.
The power of the internet and various trade magazines may override the natural language choice and we might well end up with ‘mice’.
That’s how language works. What becomes the majority choice is the ‘correct’ choice.
We shall let the web search decide!
"computer mouse devices" – 358
"computer mouses" – 45,800
"computer mice" – 511,000
Mice wins!
In your "spare time" reading or if you need a chuckle
wj
Well, 40 years in computers , and a mouse user since they first became commercially available, I have yet to hear the plural as being anything but "computer mice". And thank God for that. Mouses is a totally unutterable usage and should be subject to a Rentokil extermination.
I have recently been in an argument with a fellow student who is decided on it being "mice". I believe that it dosnt really matter, no matter what it is, the Americanish language has so many slangs already, like for instance if I were to say F***, you would all think I were swearing, but in reality, the word was officaily a word used to express "to plow". So I do believe it dosnt matter much anyway…. cause everyone knows what you mean. Why does everyone have to be so troublesome?
slangs? to plow? ??!??
Anyway, there’s no valid argument here. Both common sense and popular usage point towards "mice"… "Mouses" is accepted as an uncommon usage.
ALL THIS FLIPPING TALK ABOUT THE PLURAL OF COMUTER MOUSE???? GEEZ PEOPLE WHERE HAVE YOUR LIVES GONE??
I believe "manually-operated user-select equipment" is an attempt at a joke. Since 1964 when the first mouse was introduced by creator and inventor Douglas Engelbart, the device has been called a mouse simply because Engelbart thought the cord coming out of the small, wooden, three button device made it look like a mouse.
As for the mouses/mice/meese/moose debate. I have not seen "mouse devices" used but I have seen "computer mice" but by far, the most common plural I have seen, and in fact use, is "periphreals."
My 2¢ worth.
Oh my gosh, Who knew that a GOOGLE search for the correct word for the plural of the "computer mouse" would have been such an interesting but utterly fruitless expedition!!
Wow!!
So I guess either which way I write my user manual for University purposes. nobody can penalise me!!
yahoooooooooooo!(.com)
Riqui, I swear I didn't realize who you were when I typed this rebuttal, but then I looked at the user name and hovered over it and sure 'nuff, it was you.
Anyway, the problem with just referring to mice/meese/mouses/mousse (mmm.. chocolate computer devices) as peripherals is problematic in at least 2 ways: Firstly, the mouse on my computer isn't a peripheral. It's built-in, in the form of a touch pad, but is still referred to as a mouse in the manual; secondly, if you go to CompUSA and ask for "peripherals," you'll get directed to not only mice (as I'll refer to them because it's how I always have, and people know what I've meant), but speakers, printers, external hard drives, and anything else that can plug in to your computer.
As far as what to call them "officially," I say, if the guy who invented the thing named it after the furry critter, and the plural form of said critter is "mice," then the plural form of the device is "mice" as well.
Somebody for God's sake email Engelbart. Surely he must have a Myspace account or summat?
*raises eyebrow*
Technically, "mice" is the correct English plural of "mouse".
Although, the English language can be quite confusing when it comes to pluralising a word, because it doesn't follow a strict convention. Therefore, maybe "mouses" could be acceptable. Afterall, we accept things like "persons" as plural for "person" when in fact it should be "people."
I'm not quite sure about the meese.
Mousies sounds cute though.
Luv Jazka
I could be "computer mouses" if it's an exocentric compound, like
Maple Leafs
still lifes
flatfoots
These compound words are not kind of leaves, lives, or feet respectively. Their meaning is not specified by the head word. In the same way, a computer mouse is not a kind of mouse.
I'm not saying that "computer mouses" is the plural form. I'm saying that if it is the plural form, this is the reason.
Mice has to be correct if it is truly named after the rodent. (which i found to be correct after looking it up and finding an interview with engelbart)
Taking a plural other than "mice" wouldn't make any sense, even though its not the same thing as the rodent. When has definition ever effected pluralization?
"Mouses" is just something someone thought of to be annoying and try and complicate this language even more.
"When has definition ever effected pluralization?"
In exocentric compounds, like the examples I gave. "Maple Leafs" are different from "maple leaves". "flat foots" are different from "flat feet".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compound_(linguistics)
Why would you have more then one mouse??? Each computer has a mouse!!
This has been a wonderful discussion, it has all finally come out, and the beast is exposed. We can use whatever seems right at the moment we are met with the need to pluralize.
It depends on where you are and whether you want to sound knowledgeable, agreeable or plain silly, which are all acceptable by the way.
Wonderful question, and something I have thought about before. I decided to stick by my mouses, prevailing opinion be damned.
Mice is plural for the furry little rodents. But I suspect that irregular plurals do generally become regular when the word changes meaning.
"Mice" just doesn't sit well with me, but I have to admit it's simply a style choice.
http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxmouses.html
discusses this, and gives Engelbart's opinion. But it's not really up to him, is it?
I recently purchase a 5 pack of the "devices in question" from Logitech.
The main label on the box says "OPTICAL MOUSE Enterprise Edition 5-Pack".
On the list of package contents it is listed as "Optical Mouse (qty.5)"
They never refer to mouse in the plural.
That – to me – says it all… Even the manufacturers don't know which to use so they don't use the plural.
Personally I prefer mouses.
Hey Trip, maybe they ARE referring to it in the plural and they think the plural of mouse is mouse!
1 computer mouse
2 computer myse
adopt my new usage, or….don't.
Everyday upon waking till we return to bed, we are inundated with NEEDLESS rules: what fork must I use, when is it improper to laugh, to hug to kiss or breast feed my infant. "Mouses" has become absolutely refreshing and gets my vote!
Damn, here i was looking for confirmation to explain to my Spanish students about the mouses/mice debate.According to Steven Pinker in "The Language Instinct" there are headless nouns (John above calls them exocentric where the right-hand element does not denominate the type of thing (a race hores is a type of horse, a horse race is a type of race). In words like low-life and sabre-tooth, they aren't types of life or teeth but a person who lives a seedy lifestyle and an extinct cat. Therefore we automatically block off the irregular plural and say low-lifes and sabre-tooths.Similarly, plural of Walkman is Walkmans, not Walkmen, cos it isn't a type of man.
(similarly according to Pinker, in baseball, a ball that flies out in the past is "flied out", not flew out- tho don't follow the sport so not really sure)
Does all this apply to (computer) mouse?Dunno, but mouses sounds more logical to me.
Some people think plural of octopus is octopi. Doesn't much matter really
I just love listening to KPIG.
Interesting, very interesting.
I think the correct term shiould be Mouse devices. I am a teacher and think that confusing young minds with Mice, Mouses would be detrimental to their studies
Uh!
If "mouse" is an acronym for "manually-operated user-select equipment," then "mouse devices" is not proper simply because that this phrase equals to "manually-operated user-select equipment DEVICES".
We do not say "ATM machines" since "ATM" stands for "automatic teller MACHINE".
Is that right?
al gets my vote for computer mouses from a logical linguistic stand but I could be persuaded to to take on ao's "myse", sfter all how many thousands of new words have been invented for the technological revolution.
by the way, monkey, while you may be technically right, many DO say ATM "machines".
While this thread has gone on for years now (Yearses?) why not keep it going? Yes people say ATM Machine; but they are wrong. How do I know they're wrong? Because I say so.
I have a magazine from either "RUN", "Compute!", or "Byte" from the early '80s in a box in my garage somewhere that discuses mouses. The box is easy to find since it's labeled "Commodore-64". It specifically states that mouse is an acronym. I don't care what the inventor says. He's wrong too! How do I know? See previous paragraph.
But aren't acronyms capitalized? (With the exection of special acronyms: scuba, radar, I'm sure there are dozens more) I think mouse is the most special of acronyms, just like YAHOO. Can you look up an acronym on an acronym? Hmmm.
I have always called them mouses.
Is there any other field of study where someone would say "It's wrong because I say so"? Whales are fish, because I say so. Tomatoes are poisonous, because I say so.
Mouse (computing)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_(computing)
[edit] Etymology and plural
The first known publication of the term "mouse" as a pointing device is in Bill English's 1965 publication "Computer-Aided Display Control"[2]
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary (third edition) and the fourth edition of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language endorse both computer mice and computer mouses as correct plural forms for computer mouse. The form Mouse, however, appears most commonly, while some authors of technical documents may prefer either mouse devices or the more generic pointing devices. The plural mouses treats mouse as a "headless noun."
Please how do you pluralise a phrase like 'head of department'? Is it 'heads of department' or heads of departments'?
That would be "department heads".
I work at an English Language college, and nobody believed me when I said it was "mouses, so I came here to look it up. Guess I wasn't as correct as I thought I was.
What do you mean, Kylie? If you read everything here, you should conclude that you were completely correct. You would only have been incorrect if you insisted that it was the ONLY way to say it.
No, People, I am the father of modern technology!
NIGGA STOLE MY BIKE!
it's mouses, the pope told me so.
I sleep with a pillow under ym gun.
Fuck yo' mouses…
I am a nobber.
i think its a very interesting topic. The views of Whitey are very informative and i took this on board while trying to search for my solution. After hours of deliberation and a thesis conducted by myself last year i came up with the following conclusion:
does it matter much? u know what i mean what eva i say, thats what language is for!
though most people agreed from my surveys that it was mousification units!
sleep better!
For those of you running Windows XP (possibly other operating systems, too), if you go to "device manager" you will find that your mouse is listed under "Mice and other pointing devices". I guess that means that Microsoft prefers "mice".
I think people should respect academic issues for the value they add to our society. Making comments that don’t edify anyone – even the writer! – is, to say the least, like clouds and wind without rain.
Mouses…mice…mices….we all know what we mean right?
New Oxford American Dictionary, 2nd Edition. © 2005 by Oxford University Press:
I guess it’s OK if we distinguish the rodents and devices grammatically :)
One sheep, two sheep, three sheep (yawn);
The plural of ‘mouse’ devices is also mouse (i’ve just decided); so its…
One mouse, two mouse, three mouse, three blind mouse
It used to be common among hackers (in the MIT sense) to pluralize things using the (normally non-productive) suffix -en (as in oxen). Thus, the correct plural for (computer) mouse is undoubtedly…mousen!