I want to reread Lamb: The story of Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal now
beetnemesis Send a noteboard - 01/11/2011 11:38:26 PM
If in an alternate reality you were confronted by a mob of Jesus clones, and you wanted to say, "Oh shit, look at all those ________!", what would you use besides "Jesuses"? After all, I'm fairly certain other names follow a similar form. "There are a lot of Guses in this town." "Did you see all those Samuses at that cosplay convention?" Unless Jesus as a name has a special grammatical convention for plurality? Such as Jesu or something? Or perhaps it is like a moose and you would simply say, "Look at all those Jesus!" That seems potentially grammatically vague. Surely you don't mean to imply that it should be converted like a Latin word and be Jesi? I would have thought that would not apply to proper names. Though that is a good question. If Claudius were cloned, would you say, "Holy shit, look at all those Claudii!"?
What with it being a family name (calling it "last name" is a bit confusing in the Roman naming system), the plural was sometimes used when referring to an entire family, or to several people (the most famous example is probably "the Gracchi", the two brothers Gracchus in the second century B.C.).
Actual first names are a different story, of course.
Though really, since Jesus' native language was Aramaic and his friends and family called him something closer to Joshua than to Jesus (I don't recall what exactly it is in Hebrew/Aramaic), it seems a little absurd to go look at Latin plurals - if you're gonna translate his name to another language anyhow, you might as well just stick with the English plurals.
I think possibly I'm taking this question even more too seriously than you did...
And now I'm wondering about the grammaticality or lack thereof of the previous sentence, which probably means I'm starting to ramble and should leave it at this. 
I amuse myself.
It's so weird trying to explain Halloween to people who didn't grow up with it
- 01/11/2011 02:26:52 PM
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For a sec I was gonna go into the specifics for you...
- 01/11/2011 04:32:18 PM
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But its always just been an excuse to make a fire on the top of a hill.
- 01/11/2011 05:32:57 PM
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Yup. I know there are various pagan origins, but honestly, fuck'em
- 01/11/2011 08:17:12 PM
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I'm not going to do a history lesson, but...
- 01/11/2011 09:22:59 PM
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What would you say is the proper plural form of Jesus?
- 01/11/2011 09:51:31 PM
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Claudii is an established plural, actually.
- 01/11/2011 10:02:52 PM
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I want to reread Lamb: The story of Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal now
- 01/11/2011 11:38:26 PM
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Jesī *NM*
- 01/11/2011 10:06:29 PM
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Minor addendum: it seems to be a defective fourth declension. The plural should still be Iesūs.
- 01/11/2011 10:44:08 PM
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He is singular in nature
- 01/11/2011 10:08:43 PM
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- 01/11/2011 10:08:43 PM
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I thing attempting to discuss the plurality of Jesus precludes any serious discussion
- 01/11/2011 10:41:01 PM
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Well, Zombie Jesus seems a legit matter for theological discussions
- 02/11/2011 01:03:38 AM
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Lots of Mexican guys in one room could still be "Jesuses". *NM*
- 01/11/2011 10:47:03 PM
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So is it Jesūs, Jesii, or Jesuses then?
- 02/11/2011 01:04:58 AM
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Well, in English I'd assume it's Jesuses. In Latin it would be Iesūs.
- 02/11/2011 01:06:09 AM
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As I mentioned above, the Latin plural would not be Jesi, but Jesūs.
- 01/11/2011 10:46:18 PM
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Halloween isn't a Christian holiday, at least not originally.
- 01/11/2011 10:26:58 PM
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I know all of this, and care not.
- 01/11/2011 11:37:12 PM
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Again halloween is a world thing, not US property
- 02/11/2011 12:01:25 AM
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Not according to the Defense of Halloween Act of 1997! We own all IP rights and residuals.
- 02/11/2011 01:12:22 AM
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Pagans and Satanists care a great deal about religion around Halloween.
- 02/11/2011 01:10:42 AM
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All Saints' Day is huge in New Orleans, as well. Lots of replastering and whitewashing cemeteries. *NM*
- 02/11/2011 02:14:40 AM
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It seems internationally understood from what I can tell.
- 01/11/2011 10:48:02 PM
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Aren't morbid celebrations to ward away spirits pretty common throughout the world? *NM*
- 01/11/2011 11:20:45 PM
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That's not what Halloween is in the US, though. Not anymore. *NM*
- 01/11/2011 11:34:27 PM
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