Rascacielos?
¿Por qué no se dice "rascacielo", sin "-s"?
¿Quién puede pensar de otras palabras así? Palabras que parecen plural, pero de hecho son singular.
11 Answers
Many of the words listed here follow a similar pattern:
3rd person present tense verb form + plural object
-el rascacielos (rascar + cielo) = sky scraper (literally, sky scratcher)
-el sacapuntas (sacar + punta) = pencil sharpener (literally, point getter?)
-el lavaplatos (lavar + plato) = dishwasher
-el buscapersonas (buscar + persona) = beeper (literally, person looker?)
-el rompebezas (romper + cabeza) = puzzle (literally, head breaker)
-el abrelatas (abrir + lata) = can opener
You'll notice that all of the compound words, formed from a verb and object, are masculine and all end in -s. This rule can usually be applied to any Spanish compound like this.
Most of the words, when translated to English follow the "-er" pattern, although some of them (like rombecabezas) carry a different meaning related to the "-er" translation.
EDIT: I looked around for a link to words like this, and I found this great list. Check it out!
Another word could be "cascanueces"-nutcracker or "pantalones"-pants
rascacielos is related to sky and not to clouds. Under not context cielo means cloud. This is literally building who stickily (more than scratch) the skies.
Scratch denote damage, rascar is softer that arañar.
Cielos is poetically cielo.
You can say, los cielos de mi patria. meaning the skies of my country. even when there is only one sky.
"el sacapuntas" = pencil sharpener (una cosa singular) "las tijeras" = scissors (tambien es plural en inglés, pero en realidad es una cosa singular)
Languages are great aren´t they. Generally in English when you add an "s" to a word it turns a singular into a plural. But there are some plurals where if you add an "s" it makes the word singular, albeit changing the gender in my example below.
Princes (plural)
Add an "s"
Princess (singular)
Cielo alone translates as sky only in certain contexts can it mean heaven like many spanish words change their meanings under different contexts but literally a skyscraper is more likely to scrape the clouds than the heaven as on days when low cloud prevails, anyway heaven is not up there, heaven is where you find it.
Juluque said:
rascacielos is related to sky and not to clouds. Under not context cielo means cloud. This is literally building who stickily (more than scratch) the skies.
Cielos is poetically cielo.
You can say, los cielos de mi patria. meaning the skies of my country. even when there is only one sky.
Scratch denote damage, rascar is softer that arañar.
Cielos is poetically cielo.
You can say, los cielos de mi patria. meaning the skies of my country. even when there is only one sky.
Thank you for the detailed explanation especially regarding the subtle differences between rascar/arañar and cielo/nubes. My own observations were based mostly on conjecture rooted in my own understanding of the English etymology of the word skyscraper as it was passed down from French and German (originally Wolkenkratzer or cloud scraper). As I am wont to do, I think I went a bit of track, so I definitely appreciate the correction and clarification juluque. 
Another word lavavajillas--dishwasher
I imagine that if you look at the way that the word is constructed - by combining the two words "scratch" and "clouds" that it might make more sense. Just as in English we call this a "skyscraper" because it refers to a building that is so tall that it literally "scrapes" the sky; in Spanish, however, it instead is tall enough to "scratch/scrape" the clouds. Here is another that you might try to dissect on your own:
buscapersonas - pager
Well, if it was rascanubes, I would agree, but I thought cielo meant sky
You have a valid point, but on the other hand, as cielo can mean either sky or heaven, if you are looking for a more literal translation you might just as well say "scratch the heavens" (which, in any event, would probably be even more emphatic/poetic than scratch the clouds)
Hey guys - thanks for all the interesting answers; who would have thought a little "s" could have led to so much discussion!
Votes all round 
