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English Language & Usage

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    And why do you think "house" should break the "standard" and have an abnormal plural, vs "mouse" and "louse" instead using the standard?
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 18:11
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    @HotLicks Neither of those two questions is really a proper duplicate. The diversity one is too generic—it doesn’t answer why these three seemingly identical words (apart from the initial consonant) have different plurals; and the moose/meese one only addresses why louse is lice, not why house isn’t hice. They’re definitely related, but I think this one is different (and specific) enough that they’re not duplicates.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 19:41
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    To add to the mystery of the -ouse family, the plural of grouse (which is of unknown etymology) is—more often than not—neither grice nor grouses but grouse. And though the plural of blouse is blouses, one common U.S. pronunciation treats the first s as if it were a z, unlike with any other -ouse noun I can think of (including scouse and lobscouse).
    – Sven Yargs
    Commented Aug 11, 2016 at 18:26
  • Furthermore, we refer to "a trice" rather than "a trouse"—and I don't think I've ever heard anyone use the plural form "trices."
    – Sven Yargs
    Commented Mar 8, 2017 at 23:09
  • If you listen to the British royal family, you'll realise that the singular of 'house' is 'hice'.
    – Kevin Ryan
    Commented Mar 10, 2020 at 14:09