(M)On geese

My kid sister this evening on the Facebook:

Watching a documentary & wondering why the plural of mongoose is mongooses & not mongeese. Anybody know?

Me on the Facebook:

The word mongoose is derived from the Marathi word mangūs. Etymologically speaking, it has no connection with the English word goose, which is derived from the Old English word gōs, which was itself derived from the Old Norse word gās, which was itself derived from the Latin word anser, which was itself derived from the Ancient Greek word chēn. Did they teach you nothing at school?

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Filed under: Nonsense

Richard Carter

A fat, bearded chap with a Charles Darwin fixation.

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