Talk:Elections in the Republic of Ireland

Referendums or Referenda
Is the correct plural of Referendum Referendums or Referenda ? 2.127.208.169 (talk) 18:20, 22 November 2015 (UTC)


 * Referenda. I have made the correction. As with most words borrowed into English from Latin, Greek and many other languages, it forms it's plural in English the same way it did in the language from which it was borrowed.  Or for a Greek example, not that it did him much good in the long run:  Olympia Dukakis won an Academy Award the same night her cousin Michael Dukakis won a presidential primary.  Speaking after the latter, he said "This has been a great night for the Dukaki" - rather than "the Dukakises" - because Dukaki is the plural of Dukakis in Greek, and the general rule in English is to follow the rule of the language in which the word (in this case, the name) originated.  Exception:  An exception that proves the rule is the word "medium."  When medium refers to a medium of communication, such as radio, newspapers, flyers, leaflets, etc., the proper plural is media. But when the same word is used as an adjective and/or a phonetic corruption of intermediate -- as with the clothing size that is intermediate to "Small" and "Large" -- the plural can be either "medium" or "mediums."  E.g. "I'll take one small, one large, and three medium t-shirts" or "I'll take three mediums."  The theory is that the 's' of the plural noun migrates to the adjective when the noun itself is omitted.  Another situation where the plural of medium is mediums is when you are referring to spiritual mediums.  E.g. "The university hosted a conference in paranormal psychology that featured panel presenations by three well-known mediums."  Or in the case of Harvey Korman as Mother Markus on The Carol Burnett Show, three extra-larges.

2601:645:C300:C1C:BCA1:AF01:FC0B:BFBB (talk) 09:20, 26 May 2018 (UTC)

A Section on the Mechanics Would Be Good
Ireland appears to be unique among modern nations in conducting them entirely by paper ballot AND counting those ballots during regular working hours, starting at 9:00 am on the day after the election. A section on the actual mechanics of Irish elections would thus be appropriate.

2601:645:C300:C1C:BCA1:AF01:FC0B:BFBB (talk) 09:22, 26 May 2018 (UTC)