mouses, ratones, mice

Question

Debido a que mucho del hardware aun es llamado con su nombre original en inglés la gente suele referirse a varios ratones como "mouses" y gramaticalmente lo correcto sería "mice". Sí aún se desea seguir usando el término inglés... ¿debemos decir "mice"?

Answer 1

Llamarlo "mice" me parece una barbaridad ("bárbaro" con el sentido de extranjero), y escribirlo como "mouse" y llamarlo "maus" me parece de idiotas (con perdón), ya que en español tenemos un sistema lógico de escritura, y adoptar el sistema de escritura más difícil e ilógico del mundo es una bufonada. Pero si insistimos en llamar al ratón "maus", nombre que se le dio porque parecía un ratón, con la cola y todo, el plural debería ser "mauses" (o en plan bobo, mouse and mouses), pero a mí me sigue pareciendo mejor llamarlo "ratón" y "ratones", como hacemos en España. Y si no, pues todos a decir "¡Huy, hoy ve visto un maus en mi cocina!"

El dispositivo tiene forma de ratón, en inglés se llama ratón porque parece un ratón, la palabra ratón suena como ratón, y su plural es ratones, que es lo que tiene más sentido. Yo propongo que lo llamemos ratón, que es como se hace en España. Y que conste que yo propongo igualmente que usemos otros términos hispanoamericanos que no se usan en España pero que son igualmente lógicos.

El inglés ha triunfado por el poderío económico y científico de los que hablan inglés, no porque el idioma sea una maravilla. ¿Por qué no mostramos un poco de orgullo enseñándoles cuán superior es nuestro sistema gráfico usándolo en condiciones, en vez de doblegarnos ante su cultura incondicionalmente?

Answer 2

3 (plural also mous·es)a small handheld device that is dragged across a flat surface to move the cursor on a computer screen, typically having buttons that are pressed to control functions.

from oxfordictionaries What do you think about that?!

Yes. To say "mouses" would apply as a plural only to computer mouses. I think it has become more accepted to say mice these days. But, at least, you now have an authority on the issue. Cheers. - webdunce, Dec 17, 2010

So, by the way, you can pick your own answer (this one) as the "best answer" because this IS the answer to your question...more or less. In other words, the company you bought the mouses from was not wrong in using mouses instead of mice. :-) - webdunce, Dec 17, 2010

Answer 3

Más de mil millones de mice de ordenador vendido. Más de 25 años de innovación constante. Con un mice de Logitech, puede estar seguro de que esta reservando sus manos en el muy mejor.

With such a pathetic translation (without proper grammar) I would avoid whatever these guys say.

Answer 4

There is disagreement over this issue. So, I, for one, would accept it either as mouses or mice (I prefer mouses when speaking of hardware). I really don't know if there is an authoritative answer for you. The dictionary I looked at, while it included the computer related definition, listed only mice as the correct plural, while I am certain I was once instructed by some teacher (long ago in a galaxy far away) that mouses was correct.

I think you will find most of us call them mice in the plural, though.

Are you talking about English (with random spelling) or Spanish (with logical spelling)? - lazarus1907, Dec 17, 2010

I think at first mouses was considered correct, and that now mice is considered correct (likely since we non-linguists kept using mice and we're the Joes that buy them). - webdunce, Dec 17, 2010

I think Antoine is asking for the correct plural in English; so, I am referring to the English spelling. I am completely for changing English's orthography to reflect our phonetics more closely. - webdunce, Dec 17, 2010

By the way, this mouse / mice thing reflects the Germanic-ness of English. In German, plurals are usually formed by various stem-vowel and ending changes (adding -s to make a plural in German is only for foreign borrowed words). - webdunce, Dec 17, 2010

For example, in German mouse is maus, but mice is mäuse (pronounced moi-zuh, if I remember correctly). - webdunce, Dec 17, 2010

The general public might accept a phonetic spelling system, but I think it would be 100 times more difficult to get them to drop the random German-type plurals embedded in our language. - webdunce, Dec 17, 2010

If you think Modern English spelling is crazy, you should have seen Old English. It has to translated to modern English. - BellaMargarita, Dec 17, 2010

Answer 5

 [This is a fast-access FAQ excerpt.]

Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age (ed. Constance Hale, HardWired, 1996, ISBN 1-888869-01-1) says: "What's the plural of that small, rolling pointing device invented by Douglas Engelbart in 1964? We prefer ~mouses~. ~Mice~ is just too suggestive of furry little creatures. But both terms are common, so take your pick. We actually emailed Engelbart to see what he'd say. His answer? 'Haven't given the matter much thought.' "In fact, Engelbart shared credit for the name with 'a small group in my lab at SRI.' Nobody among his colleagues seems to remember who first nicknamed the device, but all agree that the name was given because the cord ('tail') initially came out the 'back' of the device. 'Very soon we realised that the connecting wire should be brought out the "front" instead of the back,' Engelbart notes, but by then the name had stuck."

The Microsoft(R) Manual of Style for Technical Publications (ed. Amanda Clark, Microsoft Press, 1995, ISBN 1-55615-939-0) says: "Avoid using the plural mice; if you need to refer to more than one mouse, use mouse devices."

Markus Laker reports from the U.K.: "In the early eighties, a few people did selfconsciously say 'mouses', but the traditional plural 'mice' gained ground rapidly and is now more or less universal here."

Answer 6

Ahora esto se encuentra en la página de Logitec, con evidentes errores.

De los expertos del mouse

Más de mil millones de mice de ordenador vendido. Más de 25 años de innovación constante. Con un mice de Logitech, puede estar seguro de que esta reservando sus manos en el muy mejor.

Answer 7

Staples, a large retailer of such devices in the U.S. calls them "mice". I just checked their website. But I have heard people say "mouses" when refering to computer mice, but never to actual animal mice.

Staples is an American company. They don't speak Spanish. They don't give a **** about Spanish. - lazarus1907, Dec 17, 2010

Answer 8

En México al comprar este hardware, en los empaques sigue diciendo "mouse" y en la nota de remisión tienen que escribirte el nombre del producto tal y como se marca en su empaque, entonces es común que en tu factura o nota veas algo como:

5 mouses marca xxxxx