Rivers Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Both terms were used interchangeably in my Elder's quorum lesson. Is one phrase really more proper than the other? Or is best to say "copies of the Book of Mormon?" I personally use the phrase "Book of Mormons" most often. Are there any english majors here that can give some elightenment on this critical issue. Link to comment
Robert F. Smith Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Books of Mormon is the proper plural form. Same as Attorneys General, Courts Martial, etc. See item #9 in the New Fowler's Modern English Usage, 3rd ed., edited by R. W. Burchfield (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), page 602. 1 Link to comment
Rivers Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 Books of Mormon is the proper plural form. Same as Attorneys General, Courts Martial, etc.See item #9 in the New Fowler's Modern English Usage, 3rd ed., edited by R. W. Burchfield (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), page 602.I guess that settles it then. Link to comment
strappinglad Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 (edited) If there are 2 men with the title " Earl of Windsor " , would we say there are 2 Earls of Windsor or 2 Earl of Windsors ? Then again , it does sound strange when we shorten the name to BoM. 2 BsoM or 2 BoMs? By the way, NEVER say you are taking your BoM on the plane !!! Edited June 24, 2015 by strappinglad Link to comment
Duncan Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I say copies of the Book of Mormon, it's the King's English 1 Link to comment
bluebell Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Yep, books of mormon. If you had ever watched The Best Two Years, you would have already known that. 1 Link to comment
The Nehor Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Books of Mormon is the proper plural form. Same as Attorneys General, Courts Martial, etc. See item #9 in the New Fowler's Modern English Usage, 3rd ed., edited by R. W. Burchfield (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), page 602.That is the proper form but I believe in proactively making positive changes in language and will continue to call them Book of Mormons. Link to comment
Rivers Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 "Book of Mormons" rolls off the toungue easier for me. Link to comment
Kenngo1969 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 (edited) The way to resolve the question is to ask, "What's being modified from singular to plural?" Hence: Singular: "Mother Superior" Plural: "Mothers Superior" Singular: "Book of Mormon" Plural: "Books of Mormon," or, I suppose, technically, "Copies of the Book of Mormon" Edited June 25, 2015 by Kenngo1969 Link to comment
Kenngo1969 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 "Book of Mormons" rolls off the toungue easier for me.I dearly hope, ungrammatical as it may be, that it rolls more easily off of your tongue! Link to comment
Kenngo1969 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Yep, books of mormon. If you had ever watched The Best Two Years, you would have already known that. "I know that Joseph Smith was a pamphlet." 2 Link to comment
Rivers Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 The way to resolve the question is to ask, "What's being modified from singular to plural?" Hence: Singular: "Mother Superior" Plural: "Mothers Superior" Singular: "Book of Mormon" Plural: "Books of Mormon," or, I suppose, technically, "Copies of the Book of Mormon""Copies of the Book of Mormon" makes the most sense to me because there is only one book that Mormon put together. In the case of "mothers superior" there is more than one mother. Link to comment
JLHPROF Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 (edited) Both terms were used interchangeably in my Elder's quorum lesson. Is one phrase really more proper than the other? Or is best to say "copies of the Book of Mormon?" I personally use the phrase "Book of Mormons" most often. Are there any english majors here that can give some elightenment on this critical issue. It depends on what you consider "Book of Mormon" to be. If you consider it to be a complete title "The Book of Mormon" then "Book of Mormons" would be correct, as in "Bibles", "Korans", "Don Quixotes" ""DaVinci Codes" etc. As in, I sold 3 Don Quixotes and 4 DaVinci Codes and 5 Book of Mormons. If you consider it to be a possessive, ie, Mormon's Book, then "Books of Mormon" would be more correct, as there are more books containing the record of Mormon, or I sold 4 of Mormon's book. Personal choice I think, at least that's this bookseller's opinion. Edited June 26, 2015 by JLHPROF Link to comment
Rain Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 It depends on what you consider "Book of Mormon" to be.If you consider it to be a complete title "The Book of Mormon" then "Book of Mormons" would be correct, as in "Bibles", "Korans", "Don Quixotes" ""DaVinci Codes" etc. As in, I sold 3 Don Quixotes and 4 DaVinci Codes and 5 Book of Mormons.If you consider it to be a possessive, ie, Mormon's Book, then "Books of Mormon" would be more correct, as there are more books containing the record of Mormon, or I sold 4 of Mormon's book.Personal choice I think, at least that's this bookseller's opinion.This is what has always made sense to me. I understood that the correct way to say it was Books of Mormon, but always felt it was a title at this point so I never understood why it wasn't Book of Mormons. Link to comment
Rain Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 If there are 2 men with the title " Earl of Windsor " , would we say there are 2 Earls of Windsor or 2 Earl of Windsors ? Then again , it does sound strange when we shorten the name to BoM. 2 BsoM or 2 BoMs?By the way, NEVER say you are taking your BoM on the plane !!!Off topic: you can have 2 earls of Windsor? I thought you could only have one and he was it till he died? Link to comment
Calm Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 You could say something like there were two earls during the last decade, first one, then the other. Link to comment
seriously honestly Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 "Book of Mormons" would seem to imply the book was about a bunch of Mormons, where as "Books of Mormon" refer to multiple copies of a book with that title. 1 Link to comment
ERayR Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 This is what has always made sense to me. I understood that the correct way to say it was Books of Mormon, but always felt it was a title at this point so I never understood why it wasn't Book of Mormons. What are you talking about 'books' or 'persons named Mormon'? Do you have a case of Mormons or do you have a case of books? 1 Link to comment
Recommended Posts