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From: roberson@ibd.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca (Walter Roberson)
Newsgroups: comp.soft-sys.matlab
Subject: Re: MATLAB Central Spring Contest
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:14:09 +0000 (UTC)
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In article <a8SdnUuVdO93WIXVnZ2dnUVZ_h-vnZ2d@earthlink.com>,
D. Ismay <noSpam@Woohoo.Woohoohoo.Woohoo.Woohoohoo.HOOHOO.hoohoo.Woohoo.Woohoohoo> wrote:

>8. 'behaviors', 'moneys', 'winds', 'rains', 'foods', 'fruits', 
>'medicines', when all
>of these are group nouns and don't change spelling for plural case.

You are wrong about each of the words you list. 


http://www.oed.com

Note: in the below quotations, some non-ASCII letters disappeared,
especially eth and thorn. Sorry.


behaviour, n

  1b. Also in pl.

  1538 BALE Comedy in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) I. 211 Your fastynges,
  longe prayers, with other holy behauers. 1601 SHAKES. Jul. C. I.
  ii. 42 Which giue some soyle (perhaps) to my Behauiours. 1678
  CUDWORTH Intell. Syst. I. iv.  S19. 366 To observe the actions,
  manners and Behaviours of men. a1763 `GEO. PSALMANAZAR' Mem. (1764)
  186, I could see..thro' all his artifices and different behaviours.
  1959 Camb. Rev. 7 Mar. 405/1 We must surely accept that the pattern
  of associated behaviours first noticed by Weber was one of the most
  brilliantly successful suggestions in the whole history of
  intellectual endeavour.

money, n

  2e. Chiefly Horse Racing and Gambling (orig. U.S.). With
  preceding ordinal number: the prize or prize money associated
  with finishing in the placing denoted by the number in a
  competitive event; this placing itself. [...] 1894 Vermont Agric.
  Rep. 14 96 He trotted in seventeen races..; won nine first
  moneys.

  3. In pl. (now chiefly in legal and quasi-legal parlance). Sums
  or quantities of money.

  c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) 2 Macc. iii. 6
  Tolde to hym the tresorie in Jerusalem for to be ful with moneys
  [L. pecuniis] vnnoumbreable. 1593 Acct. Bk. W. Morton f. 69,
  Reseuet..iii scor ane stane of tolone ane pound les, of moneyes
  is sum Ic honderis xxxiiii lib. 4s. 1600 SHAKESPEARE Merchant of
  Venice I. iii. 115 You come to me, and you say, Shylocke, we
  would haue moneyes. 1625 BACON Ess. (new ed.) 246 No Man will
  Lend his Moneyes farre off, nor put them into Vnknown Hands. 1632
  W. LITHGOW Totall Disc. Trav. IV. 140 [He] furnished him with
  great moneys, and other necessaries. 1734 tr. C. Rollin Anc.
  Hist. (1827) VIII. XIX. v. 163 To make him a present of the
  monies arising from that sale. 1794 R. CUMBERLAND Jew II. ii. 24,
  Why truly, monies is a good thing. 1819 SCOTT Ivanhoe I. x*. 208
  `O,' said the Jew, `you are come to pay monies... And from whom
  dost thou bring it?' 1822 BYRON Werner II. ii, But to steal The
  moneys of a slumbering man! 1865 Morning Star 3 Feb. 3/5 A young
  woman, was charged..with stealing from the person of Robert
  Tharston,..7s. 6d., his moneys.  1871 R. ELLIS tr. Catullus Poems
  xxix. 22 Is not all his act To swallow monies, empty purses heap
  on heap? 1927 A. H. MCNEILE Introd. New Test. 132 Schmirdel
  objects that it would have been quite irrational to convey monies
  from South Galatia to Jerusalem by way of Macedonia. 1959 Times
  Rev. Industry Mar. 4/3 There is an ambivalence in the claims on
  promotional moneys, for the furtherance of distribution on the
  one hand and for the extension of advertising on the other. 1990
  J. MCGAHERN Amongst Women 55 He..started to tot up all the monies
  he presently held against the expenses he had.


wind, n. (1)

  1. Air in motion; a state of movement in the air; a current of
  air, of any degree of force perceptible to the senses, occurring
  naturally in the atmosphere, usually parallel to the surface of
  the ground. a. In general or collective sense. [...]
  (b) pl. pl. c825 Vesp. Psalter xvii[i]. 11 [10] Volavit super
  pinnas ventorum, fle ofer firu winda. 971 Blickl. Hom. 51 as
  windas & as renas syndon ealle his. a1300 Cursor M. 22630 Windes
  on ilk side sal rise. 1390 GOWER Conf. I. 34 Right now the hyhe
  wyndes blowe. c1460 J. METHAM Wks. (1916) 157 [I]ff Crystemes day
  falle vp-on Moneday, yt schuld be a gret wyntyr, and fulle off
  wyindys. a1593 MARLOWE Ovid's Elegies II. xi, Hither the winds
  blow, here the spring-tide roar. a1614 J. MELVILL Autob. & Diary
  (Wodrow Soc.) 261 The Lord of Armies, wha ryddes upon the winges
  of the woundes. 1638-56 COWLEY Davideis I. Notes, Wks. 1710 I.
  357 The Matter of Winds is an Exhalation arising out of the
  Concavities of the Earth. 1748 GRAY Alliance 43 Command the
  Winds, and tame th' unwilling Deep. 1830 TENNYSON Ode to Memory
  14 The dew-impearled winds of dawn.  1860 TYNDALL Glac. II. viii.
  263 The lighter de'bris is scattered by the winds far and wide
  over the glacier.


rain, n. (1)

  2. pl. a. Showers of rain; rainfalls. a900 O.E. Martyrol. 20 Mar.
  40 aere lyfte ecynd is aet heo teh to a renas of aem sealtan sae.
  971 Blickl.  Hom. 51 as windas & as renas syndon ealle his. 1154
  O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1098 urh mycele renas e ealles eares
  ne ablunnon. c1200 Vices & Virtues 143 Godd..wiheld alle reines
  rie hier & six monees.  a1340 HAMPOLE Psalter civ. 30 He set aire
  raynys haghil. c1400 MANDEVILLE (Roxb.) vii. 23 are es na
  trubling of e aer thurgh raynes. 1556 Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden)
  2 Thys yere felle gret raynes. 1625 N.  CARPENTER Geog. Del. II.
  i. (1635) 5 The extraordinary Raines and showers which those
  places suffer. 1738 GRAY Tasso 10 Swoll'n with new force and late
  descending rains. 1878 HUXLEY Physiogr. 48 The heavy tropical
  rains are usually confined to definite periods.  Prov. 1846
  DENHAM Prov. (Percy Soc.) 54 Many rains, many rowans.


food, n.

  1. e. An article of food; a kind of food.
  1393 GOWER Conf. III. 26, I you shall reherce, How that my fodes
  ben diverse. c1449 PECOCK Repr. III. v. 303 Hauyng foodis..be we
  content. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 5b, God sent from
  heuen a swete fode for theyr brede called manna. 1617 MARKHAM
  Caval. I. 56 In England..we have so many choyces of good foodes.
  1674 N. COX Gentl. Recreat. IV. (1677) 45 The larger the Pike the
  courser the food. 1754 Dict. Arts & Sc. II. 1288 Foods proper for
  preserving health. 1887 Cassell's Fam. Physician 911 What are the
  proper fuels, or foods, with which to supply it [the human
  machine].


fruit, n.

  1. Vegetable products in general, that are fit to be used as food
  by men and animals. Now usually in pl. Also fruits of the earth
  or the ground.
  c1375 Lay Folks Mass Bk. (MS. B.) 392 o froytes of o erthe make
  plentuus. 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Litany, That it may please thee
  to give and preserve to our use the kindly fruits of the earth.
  1648 GAGE West Ind. xii. 43 The answer of our Queene
  Elizabeth..to some that presented unto her of the fruits of
  America. 1665 Ord. Mayor Lond. in De Foe Plague (1840) 46 That
  no..musty corn, or other corrupt fruits..be suffered to be sold.
  1725 WATTS Logic I. vi. S3 If the husk or seeds are eaten, they
  are called the fruits of the ground. 1791 T. NEWTE Tour Eng. &
  Scot. 196 At Aberdeen, turnips, carrots, and potatoes, pass,
  among the common people, by the name of fruit. 1859 JEPHSON
  Brittany ii. 20 The Breton peasant can turn all the fruits of the
  earth to account.  c1374 CHAUCER Former Age 3 They helde hem
  paied of the fructes at ey ete. 1500-20 DUNBAR Poems xiv. 63
  Quhilk slayis the corne and fruct that growis grene.  fig. c1374
  CHAUCER Boeth. I. pr. i. 3 (Camb. MS.) Thise ben tho
  that..destroyen the corn plentyuos of fruites of resone. 1559
  Mirr. Mag., Hen. VI, xxxix, See here the pleasaunt fruytes that
  many princes reape. 1707 WATTS Hymn, `Come, we that love the
  Lord' viii, Celestial Fruits on earthly Ground From Faith and
  Hope may grow.

  2. The edible product of a plant or tree, consisting of the seed
  and its envelope, esp. the latter when it is of a juicy pulpy
  nature, as in the apple, orange, plum, etc. tree of fruit =
  fruit-tree.  As denoting an article of food, the word is
  popularly extended to include certain vegetable products that
  resemble `fruits' in their qualities, e.g. the stalks of
  rhubarb.
  b. with a and pl., as denoting a kind of fruit. 
  1375 BARBOUR Bruce x. 191 The treis..Chargit vith froytis on
  syndri viss. c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 261 ou schalt purge colre
  wi a decoccioun of fretis. c1460 J.  RUSSELL Bk. Nurture 667
  Speke..For frutes a-fore mete to ete em fastyngely. 1527 R.
  THORNE in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 252 Our fruites and graines be
  Apples, Nuts, and Corne. 1650 FULLER Pisgah I. iv. 11 Dates,
  Almonds..Nuts..Pomegranates and other severall fruits. 1795
  Gentl. Mag. 540/1 The glow of ripe fruits and declining leaves
  mark the autumn. 1842 TENNYSON Gardener's Dau. 190 Fruits and
  cream served in the weeping elm. 1858 HOMANS Cycl. Commerce 886
  This fruit [currants] is of a violet colour, and hangs in long
  loose bunches.  1475 Bk. Noblesse 70 Planted withe treis of
  verdure of divers fructis. 1585 JAS. I Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 14 To
  taste, and smell..Delicious fruictis, whilks in that tyme abound.
  1596 DALRYMPLE tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 6 Excepte spice and
  Vine, and sum fructes.


medicine, n. (1)

  1. a. A substance or preparation used in the treatment of
  illness; a drug; esp. one taken by mouth. Also: such substances
  generally. Also in extended use.
  a1398 J. TREVISA tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus
  Rerum (BL Add.) f. 99, Skabbe is curable wi metisines at..clensi
  wiinne & wioute.  464 M. PASTON in Paston Lett. (1971) I. 291 For
  Goddys sake be war what medesyns ye take of any fysissyanys of
  London. 1513 H. BRADSHAW Lyfe St. Werburge II. 853 All phisike
  and medicyns were founde to her in vayne. 1617 J. WOODALL
  Surgions Mate 4 Haue ready your medicines to binde vp the wound
  againe.  1741-3 J. WESLEY Extract of Jrnl. (1749) 15 One of the
  mistresses lay..near death, having found no help from all the
  medicines she had taken.

{There are two additional meanings listed that take the plural,
but which I have not quoted here as both are marked as Obs.}
-- 
  "When we all think alike no one is thinking very much."
                                              -- Walter Lippmann