Are you scared that the thread will outstrip some of the other forums?
p.s. for those who may like to debate my use of "forums" instead of "fora" as a plural I will posit the following:
Through a process known as assimilation, words that were once considered "borrowed" from another language eventually become part of the standard lexicon and may conform to the mechanics of the new, or borrowing, language. Many words are still in process and can probably go either way. There are no hard-and-fast rules, but here's a reasonable taxonomy:
1. Words like forum, stadium and auditorium may be considered throughly assimilated and can be pluralized with "s" even in formal register.
2. Other Latin neuters that are not so fully assimilated and those used in scientific contexts require the Latin pluralization even in informal register: datum, bacterium, agendum (pluralization with "s" would be considered flat-out incorrect).
3. In between are some Latin neuter words that might go one way in informal register and the other way for formal register: aquarium, curriculum, medium.
Any questions?
