ANSWERS: 7
  • I always thought the plural was asparagi, myself. No reason for the neg - +5
  • The plural of 'asparagus' is 'asparagus'. Much like the plural of 'deer' is 'deer'. 1 deer and 15 deer. 'Asparagi' is the plural of 'asparago', which is 'asparagus' in Italian.
  • Most sources say that asparagus is both singular and plural, although Wikipedia offers asparaguses as an optional plural. Asparagus is the name of the plant - the edible parts are called spears.
  • It is both singular and plural.
  • It is probably a generic, like "virus", which means slime. The only way to tell would be to find a text in the vocative, in which a Roman addressed his asparagus. The manner in which he did so would immediately reveal whether there was one or a multitude of the vegetable present. Unfortunately, either Romans were delinquent in reassuring their crops, or their clerks criminally failed to record the event.
  • etymonline gives this: asparagus late Old English sparage, from Middle Latin sparagus, from Latin asparagus, Greek asparagos, probably from PIE base *sp(h)er(e)g- "to spring up" (though perhaps from a non-Gk. source). Respelled c.1600 to conform with Greek Sparrowgrass is 17c. folk etymology, persisting into 19c., during which time asparagus had "an air of stiffness and pedantry" From that I would take it that it isn't a plural.
  • Nobody in their right mind would use the plural of that word because 99 out of 100 won't know it and you will feel like a fool when they laugh st you and tell the story at every future gathering you ever attend. "Asparagus is a Latin word which derives from the Greek word asparagos, which referred to all tender stalks or stems. ... In Latin, the plural of Asparagus is asparagi. However, don't go thinking you'll sound more intelligent if you refer to a serving of asparagus spears as asparagi."

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