Quote:
Originally posted by Big Jim:
Sorry, Cathy -- I was making an oblique, rather foggy crack about GL cheating by using the word "quails" to force a rhyme, when in most usages, the word "quail" is used as both singular and plural. "Deer" and "elk" and "moose" are similar. Here in Texas, if somebody says he's hunting "quails," we'd look to see where he was pointing his shotgun. (I refuse to yield to the temptation to bring Dick Cheney into this otherwise enlightened discourse.) I have an old friend who is a Moose, and even members of Moose lodges don't use the term "mooses" to refer to more than one member. The "elks" of the fraternal lodge do use "elks" as a member plural, but those who hunt elk do not add the "s" to make a plural animal. You, though, made my point for me in your response: You, in my opinion, used the exactly correct plural forms when describing them. --But in Canada, a "quail" is a pheasant? Hmmmmm -- we have several species of both, and the bird families are quite different.
Anyway, thanks for the info.
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Oh, Northern Maine has a lot of hunters. They'd be ridiculed if they said elks, deers, mooses or quails. Someone would probably take their guns away from them, just as a form of punishment.
I don't know what a quail is in Canada. In Northern Maine, it's a pheasant.
[ April 02, 2006, 20:00: Message edited by: Cathy ]