Die, Dies, Dice 2

[stackdump]

If you have a die (a casting for example), does it have a plural? So would I have two die?, or two dies? My guess would be two die in the sense that 'die' is singular or plural, so it is like the word baggage.

But... I've also heard people call two die, dice. Which is probably a mishearing of dies.

In terms of a dice (the the square gaming thing you roll), the plural is die. But this is often confused since I hear people say roll the dice when they have two in their hand. I guess the 'ice' part of dice sounds like an 's' which makes it sound like its plural.

I've always suspected that the confusion between dice/die (the gaming thing) and multiple die (a casting or similar) is why some people call multiple castings dice?

 

[gbaughma]

IMHO.....

If you have a casting, that is a die. If you have two of them, that would be dies.

I can roll a single die, or roll multiple dice.

I can dice up a chicken, but only after it dies. <lol>



Just my 2¢
-Cole's Law: Shredded cabbage

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[CajunCenturion]

===&gt; If you have a die (a casting for example), does it have a plural?
Yes.
==&gt; So would I have two die?, or two dies?
Two dies.

Die is also the plural of dice.

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[stackdump]

I can roll a single die, or roll multiple dice.

Shouldn't that be;
I can roll the dice (one), or I can roll the die (several)?

A single die would be a dice, multiple dice would be die.

 

[rjoubert]

Die is also the plural of dice.

I always thought that Die is singular, and Dice is plural. So Dice is the plural of Die.

 

[snuv]

I always thought that one small cube with spots was a die
and more than one were dice

as in "the die is cast" and "as straight as a die"

Cambridge dictionaries online[/link

"If it could have gone wrong earlier and it didn't, it ultimately would have been beneficial for it to have." : Murphy's Ultimate Corollary

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> I always thought that Die is singular, and Dice is plural.
I think it's the other way around when referring to gaming devices. One dice, two die.

When referring to casting moulds, it's one die and two dies.


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[Stella740pl]

So "dies" is the plural of "die",
and "die" is the plural of "dice"?

That IS confusing!

 

[rjoubert]

I think it's the other way around when referring to gaming devices. One dice, two die.

Not according to Wikipedia's definition (not that Wikipedia is always correct).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dice

 

[CajunCenturion]

Doesn't the Wikipedia article being with:

Dice (the plural of die, ...

I read that as 'die' is singular and 'dice' is plural.




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[rjoubert]

I read that as 'die' is singular and 'dice' is plural.

Right...that's what I've been saying.

 

[snuv]

and me

"If it could have gone wrong earlier and it didn't, it ultimately would have been beneficial for it to have." : Murphy's Ultimate Corollary

 

[CajunCenturion]

You guys are exactly right. Where's my coffee?


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[rjoubert]

Thank goodness...I thought something was wrong with my reading comprehension. I was about to go back for a 3rd cup of coffee.

 

[CajunCenturion]

Sorry.

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[Stella740pl]

Oh. That makes more sense now.

 

[lisaharris]

This deserved an expert consultation.... I called my father, who spent 38+ years in sheet metal manufacturing.

He was happy to confirm that one is a die, and the plural is dies.

__________
It's better to have loved and lost than live with the idiot for the rest of your life.

 

[snuv]

Except when creating threads
then its one die nut, two die nuts

"If it could have gone wrong earlier and it didn't, it ultimately would have been beneficial for it to have." : Murphy's Ultimate Corollary

 

[Stella740pl]

Except when creating threads
then its one die nut, two die nuts

In this case, "die" seem to become an adjective, and the plural form applies to the noun part only - which is now "nut", not "die". So no real exceptions here.

 

[jebenson]

I play a game that uses six-sided dice, and some of the players have dice that have the actual numbers on the faces instead of pips (dots). Well, on these dice the six has either a line under it ( 6 ) or a dot ( 6. ), to indicate the bottom of the number. I've always wondered why this is done. Are there actually people out there who might think they just rolled a nine on a six-sided die?





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