"redices" and "indices"

[A. Pagaltzis]

Hi Kragen,

* Kragen Javier Sitaker <kragen at pobox.com> [2007-04-30 09:40]:
> I suspect that explanation #5 is the correct explanation of the
> term's origin, and it's prefigured by the "Unices" and
> "Twenices" examples from the Jargon File [4], but I intend to
> avoid the use of "redices" except in clearly playful contexts
> because of the possibility of interpretations #1, #2, #4, and
> especially #6, which will make it more difficult for the
> listener to discover the correct derivation from "reducible
> expression".  Maybe this is just me taking myself way too
> seriously.

my first reaction would be to suggest “redexen”, along the lines
of “regexen”. According to your exposition this is a lot “less
incorrect”, and I think the “-en” ending is far more obviously an
attempt at willful idiosyncracy than is the “-ices” form of Latin
words.

(I suppose the difference is in the perception of their origins,
lending the high-brow air of Latin to one vs the brutish cut of
Germanic to the other. Observe the kinds of words for which the
dictionary lists one or the other form as the correct plural to
see where that comes from.)

Regards,
-- 
Aristotle Pagaltzis // <http://plasmasturm.org/>