# Species/specie



## glenhead (Jan 29, 2005)

As a member of the Grammar Police special-interest group (www.grampol.org) , I gotta say something.

*Specie* is the coin of the realm. It has nothing to do with taxonomy (scientific naming of living things).

The word used to talk about living things is *species*. Yeah, it seems weird to use something with an "s" on the end to talk about a single thing, but there ya go.

If someone asks, "What specie are you going to add?" the available answers in the U.S. are penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half-dollar, and dollar.

Yes, I have a reputation as a pedant.

Thenk yew veddy much.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

LOL!
Have you read "Eats, Shoots & Leaves - the zero tolerance approach to punctuation" by Lynne Truss? 
Very interesting.....


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## glenhead (Jan 29, 2005)

Jan, Jan, Jan, what hath thou wrought?

I hadn't even heard of the book, but my Loving Bride had. I've decreed that we have to own it, and (for once) didn't get whacked for overstepping my bounds and issuing a declaration (though she just whacked me for writing that!) I looks like a good book - always nice to see what another pedantic stickler has to say! Thanks! The people at work all think I'm nuts, and this will provide them proof positive.

I ain't a-gonna waist no time a-gittin' it nohow!


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

I have that book next to my bedside and have almost gotten through the whole thing. What she did to her childhood pen pal was funny but not all that nice!


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## gnome (Jan 27, 2004)

glenhead said:


> As a member of the Grammar Police special-interest group (www.grampol.org) , I gotta say something.
> 
> *Specie* is the coin of the realm. It has nothing to do with taxonomy (scientific naming of living things).
> 
> ...


Me two (ha-ha)! And if I remember correctly from high school biology, when you're abbreviating a single species, it's "sp." For more than one, it's "spp." Not sure why, but I believe this is still the "rule."

Boy - English is one *bizarre* language, ain't it?

-Naomi


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