Friday, February 22, 2013

"Teaspoonfuls"


       I saw “four teaspoonfuls” on the bottle of a product Connie bought and wondered about that plural.  One dictionary gave me this form first but also approved “teaspoonsful,” which I think might be more “correct.”  The Oxford English Dictionary appeared to avoid the issue by not giving a plural form at all!

       But perhaps the OED was on to something because online I came across a technical writer who said in such problematic instances as "teaspoonfuls" versus "teaspoonsful" it is best to look for another way of saying the same thing, and suggested, for example, “use four teaspoons of x”! 

1 comment:

  1. what about a teaspoon of sugar helping the medicine go down?

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