In a message dated 01-07-06 12:22:38 EDT, Meredith Rendell rendered:

<< I don't know about the rest of you "listers," but it makes me ill to see
 such poor grammar and understanding of language in the media:

 the correct plural of compendium, Ms. Larkin, is compendia!

 Thank you for that rant.  Don't worry, I understand that Ms. Larkin is not
 part of the Museum-L listserv and intend to track her down and educate her!
>>

Au contraire!  My Webster's dictionary (10th ed.) gives both "compendiums"
and "compendia" as plurals of compendium, with "compendiums" placed first,
indicating that it's preferred.  A Latin fan myself, I certainly prefer
"compendia", but I think that once a usage or spelling makes it into a
reputable dictionary, you no longer have a right to call it incorrect.  You
can deplore it, critique it, and avoid it in your own speaking and writing,
but you can't say it's wrong.  As my linguist friends keep telling me when I
complain about ill-advised usage, language evolves and changes, and what was
incorrect one year may be correct the next.  What we now call the Romance
languages were once just incredibly bad Latin.  I do suggest that we continue
to cling to "compendia" and avoid "compendiums", and perhaps someday the
former will crowd out the latter, and we can again call "compendiums"
incorrect.  But not yet.

I too am prone to citicizing usage which I dislike, but I always check the
dictionary before I have the temerity to say it's wrong.

David Haberstich

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