Talk:pendula

Plural "pendula"

The Latin word is perpendiculum (or the adjective pendulus from which the neuter noun pendulum was later derived long after the days of Classical Latin), so "pendula" cannot be a correct original Latin form. At best it is an invented plural from the seventeenth century, pretending to be a Latin form. Dbfirs 21:36, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

I’ve marked it as “hypercorrect”, the term of art for these latter-day formations, and expanded the etymology – how does it look?

—Nils von Barth (nbarth) (talk) 16:33, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I'm happy with your improvement, and I'm surprised at how often "coupled pendula" occurs (though "coupled pendulums" is twice as common). I suppose we need to strike a balance between recording common "hypercorrect" errors (especially by physicists?) and giving the impression that all plurals are equally valid. Thanks, and sorry for the delay in replying. Dbfirs 09:00, 6 June 2009 (UTC)