Please note that all blog posts before 8 April 2007 were automatically imported from LiveJournal. To see the comments and any LiveJournal-specific extras such as polls and user icons, please find the source posting at http://brianenigma.livejournal.com/2006/10/This is for all of you Grammar Nazis out there. Which one is right?
- “Hot new pant & skirt designs!”
- “Hot new pants & skirt designs!”
Obviously it can be reworded to dodge the issue entirely, but casting that option aside, which one is correct?
The first one seems more accurate, except that you usually (always?) use the plural form “pants.” Google searches have shown me that people sometimes say it’s okay to use the singular “pant” in clothing advertisements, but the authoritative source is always along the lines of “some guy on a blog somewhere” and not “the MLA handbook.”
The second option uses the plural form “pants,” but could convey a different meaning. Expanding it like a math problem, it seems to say “hot new pants” and “hot new skirt designs” when it really should be conveying “hot new pants designs” and “hot new skirt designs.” Plus, it just doesn’t quite look right because skirt is singular and pants is plural.
