Words that are pluralized in the middle?

Question

This is purely a curiosity, but I'm fascinated by mid-word pluralization, even if the word in question is a compound word.

For example, passersby or standersby.

No others have occurred to me. Can you provide other examples, or a link to a resource that enumerates them?

I'm particularly interested in compounds that do not include spaces or hyphens.

Hmm, haven't seen "standersby" before, only "bystanders" (usually as in "innocent bystanders"; though, as every copper knows, nobody is innocent ;-) — Jürgen A. Erhard, Jan 11 '11 at 02:03
Especially bypassers, these guys always plot something sinister ;) — Septagram, Jan 11 '11 at 07:18
@JürgenA.Erhard That's exactly the mentality of why I get nervous around cops — Zach Saucier, Sep 14 '15 at 04:31

Cerberus - Reinstate Monica · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-30T05:06:57.667

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It could be any compound noun of which the head, the "main noun", is not the final part of the compound. This includes all compound nouns whose final parts are not nouns. "Bystanders" is normally not written as you did. In "passers-by", the final part is "by", which is not a noun. Note that there might be some controversy about the correct spelling of some such words, but I just try to be consistent. A few examples:

runners-up
fins-de-siècle (and many more French words)
houses of cards
Commanders-in-Chief
sons-in-law
attorneys at law
(tea)spoonsful
...

edited Jan 30 '11 at 05:06

answered Jan 11 '11 at 01:54

Cerberus - Reinstate Monica

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And also -in-law words. – Jimi Oke Jan 11 '11 at 01:56
@Jimi: Right! I will add that. – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica Jan 11 '11 at 01:57
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Except for the word in-law itself, oddly :) – Kosmonaut Jan 11 '11 at 04:06
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@Kosmonaut: Hey I never realized that. I suppose no other choice was left when the head got dropped. Still, an amusing plural. Cf. syntax-less compounds like "drop-outs" — or is there some syntax? Is it a phrase noun (or what are those called)? – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica Jan 11 '11 at 04:17
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And let's not forget attorneys at law. Hmm, on second thought, maybe we should just forget them. – Robusto Jan 11 '11 at 04:35
@Robusto: Hey, are they evil? Some of my best friends... – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica Jan 11 '11 at 04:37
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I wonder if database counts as one of these. – Tragicomic Jan 11 '11 at 06:43
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This wikipedia article has a lot of examples of this kind if you scroll down to the seventh subhead (Plurals of compound nouns): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_plural – Tragicomic Jan 11 '11 at 06:50
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Also, [tea]spoonful/[tea]spoonsful, etc., where both forms of the plural exist. – ShreevatsaR Jan 11 '11 at 07:01
Gah! So many exceptions in this language! This form of pluralization always bothered me, but then again, I am a rather persnickety individual! – Jan 30 '11 at 04:53
@LucasTizma: Well, this does have its own rule: it happens with compound nouns whose final part is not a noun. But, yeah, it does tend to look odd in a way. – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica Jan 30 '11 at 05:06
@Cerberus Right, well, it's good to know that there are rules established for things like this. That's some comfort! – Jan 31 '11 at 22:05
Sergeants-major has always been my favorite, – Kevin Apr 15 '11 at 19:11

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 11 '11 at 06:30

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Men-o’-war is a nice one: shows that irregular plurals are just as susceptible to this construction.

Also: pickers-up, on the same pattern as passers-by.

answered Jan 11 '11 at 06:30

PLL

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hippietrail · Answer 3 · 2011-01-11T07:50:29.010

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And a few more from Wikipedia:

bills of attainder
directors general
fees simple absolute
ships of the line
ministers-president
knights-errant
procurators fiscal

edited Jan 11 '11 at 07:50

answered Jan 11 '11 at 05:56

hippietrail

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score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 11 '11 at 06:52

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Besides those in others' answers, there are: attorneys general, secretaries general, solicitors general, postmasters general, governors-general, etc.; [noun]s-elect; and Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller.

answered Jan 11 '11 at 06:52

msh210

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Though I would argue that all the 'general' compounds - eve "governer-general" are in process of changing to a regular plural. – Colin Fine Jan 11 '11 at 17:27
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Polite disagreement here; "attorneys general" is going strong and reinforcing the rule. – The Raven Mar 28 '11 at 22:50

score 3 · Answer 5 · edited Mar 16 '12 at 00:13

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Another example is culs-de-sac, the plural of cul-de-sac.

edited Mar 16 '12 at 00:13

answered Mar 15 '12 at 23:27

j-lo

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Cul-de-sacs is also an accepted plural.http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/cul-de-sac – AnWulf Mar 17 '12 at 05:56

Words that are pluralized in the middle?

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