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Don_Quigleone

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Jan 19, 2007
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So, this might come across as a bit petty, but it's been annoying me for some time the proliferation of fake Latin grammar and words in place of standard English usage. I've seen these from forum users, developers, the wiki and sometimes the games themselves. These are:

1. Boni used as a plural for Bonus. The correct plural is bonuses! English is not Latin and Boni just sounds like something to do with bones.
2. Malus, as the opposite of bonus. This is a word, but it means something different (just harm in general IE malice). For games, malus is not the word used commonly. The correct word is penalty. For example "he received a bonus at work" vs "he had to pay a penalty for poor performance".

I think a lot of this is coming from second language speakers in whose first language this is the plural for Latin words (I believe this is the case in German). Second language speakers, of course, can be forgiven, just be aware that using these just makes you look pretentious to many English speakers! (like using octopi for plural octopuses, when octopus isn't even Latin derived).

/Petty rant
 
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Hear, hear!
 
I think a lot of this is coming from second language speakers in whose first language this is the plural for Latin words (I believe this is the case in German). Second language speakers, of course, can be forgiven, just be aware that using these just makes you look pretentious to many English speakers!

/Petty rant
Allegedly, this is the development of 'continental English', a variant of English evident among EU bureaucracy who use it as a 'neutral' language of international communication.
 
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