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Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by lmm on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @08:29AM (#7143644)
I don't care about the trademarks, but as a Brit 'Legos' always sounds wrong, like "I'm playing with my sheeps".
Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by arethuza on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @08:31AM (#7143656)
On the other hand, don't we in the UK always talk about "maths" rather than "math".
Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by nailer on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @08:37AM (#7143686)
That's a different matter: how does one contract a plural - but the plural is still the same:

- Math is short for mathematics, not for mathematic, which isn't a word (try looking up 'mathematic' sometime).

- Maths is also short for mathematics.

Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by groovy2shoes on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @09:14AM (#7143890)
"mathematic (n.) - late 14c. as singular noun, replaced by early 17c. by mathematics, from Latin mathematica (plural), from Greek mathematike tekhne "mathematical science," feminine singular of mathematikos (adj.) ..."

http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=mathematic

Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by JonnieCache on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @09:00AM (#7143813)
The obvious comparison is to "physics" which is short for "physical sciences" IIRC.

Was mathematics once referred to as "the mathematical arts" or something?

(A similar way to appear very uncool is to walk into a record shop and proclaim, "look at all these vinyls!")

Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by siddboots on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @09:18AM (#7143911)
It isn't "short for" anything. This is just a normal suffix for fields of study: Physics, mechanics, politics, statistics, optics, ethics, linguistics, and so on.

Etymologically it is a plural suffix, but in modern English it is singular.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/-ics

Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by claudius on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @09:17AM (#7143909)
Cambridge University has a 'Centre for Mathematical Sciences', housing both the departments for pure and applied maths.
Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by tolmasky on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @09:09AM (#7143856)
You're not contracting a plural. Mathematics is singular. "Mathematics IS a field of study", not "Mathematics are fields of studies". There aren't "3 mathematics".

A history of math vs maths: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SbZCECvoaTA

Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by nailer on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @11:20AM (#7144764)
Etymologically mathematics is a plural, as another poster notes. There are many smaller topics involved in mathematics: geometry, trig, calculus, etc. Much in the same way as mechanics, optics, politics, acoustics, etc (as a different poster mentions).
Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by northernmonkey on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @08:38AM (#7143693)
'maths' is not plural, it's a contraction of 'mathematics'.
Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by chrisseaton on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @08:40AM (#7143711)
British people don't call them lego because of trademark issues, we call them that because we consider it to be a mass noun.
Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by a-priori on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @08:55PM (#7148591)
Canadians too. Not sure why.
Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by icambron on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @08:34AM (#7143665)
Trying to get people not to use the obvious plural is silly, but the insistance on all caps bothers me even more. It's right up there with Yahoo's exclamation mark. The convention is that everyone will call you, usually, by the name you choose, but demanding that other people use your preferred typographical novelty is lame.
Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by a-priori on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @08:32AM (#7143658)
This may be a regional thing? I've always used "Lego" as a mass noun as in "I'm playing with Lego". The pluralization "Legos" sounds weird to me.
Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by cstavish on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @08:25AM (#7143633)
As someone who spent a ludicrous amount of time during my childhood playing with Legos and always referring to them as such to friends and family, I really don't appreciate this "request". I'm quick to correct my ways when I realize that I've been mispronouncing or misusing a word, but when we're talking about a children's toy brand (however cool it may be), let's just all take it easy.
Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by leobelle on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @08:40AM (#7143705)
The title for this link needs to be fixed. It's a question with some answers, and very few of the answers reflect the position stated in the title.
Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by wil421 on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @08:32AM (#7143659)
I have never played with only one lego therefore I refer to them as legos because I play with more than one.
Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by drcongo on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @08:41AM (#7143713)
But a single brick isn't called a lego, it's called a LEGO brick (or part). You have never played with one LEGO brick, you have played with LEGO bricks.

Would you build a house out of house bricks or out of houses?

Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by wil421 on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @10:32AM (#7144394)
Ask any kid from age 4-10 if they have ever called legos "lego bricks"
Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by nailer on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @08:39AM (#7143702)
Conversely: I have never fished for only one fish therefore I refer to them as 'fishes' because I fish for more than one.
Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by wil421 on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @10:31AM (#7144382)
Fish are not interlocking pieces that connect together to form larger objects.
Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by aaronem on Thursday January 30, 2014 @09:15AM (#7150729)
Except if your surname is 'Escher'.
Re:Please don't call them 'Legos' by nailer on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @06:12PM (#7147811)
Yes. That is correct.