this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2026
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History Memes

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[–] PugJesus@piefed.social 50 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (19 children)

Explanation: 'Dwarfs' as the plural of 'dwarf', and 'elfs' as plural of 'elves' used to be standard. JRR Tolkien, a foundational writer of fantasy in the mid-20th century AD, when writing his (eventually immensely popular and influential) books, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings, he used 'dwarves' and 'elves', even making special note of it so the reader didn't think he just made a mistake. Considering Tolkien was an English professor who specialized in linguistic history, who was gonna try and tell him that they were a bigger authority than him on how antiquated words should be inflected?

This usage is now standard in English, replacing 'dwarfs' and 'elfs' almost entirely.

[–] zloubida@sh.itjust.works 20 points 2 weeks ago (8 children)

Languags are evolving realitis, any author, whether linguistes or not, should be able to invent new inflectiones.

[–] Septimaeus 3 points 1 week ago

Inflectiones, now with Tajín!

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