LEGO vs legos

LostInTranslation · March 2014

^ Yes, I would expect to hear "LEGO" in each case in the UK too.

rancorbait · March 2014

I would probably say "pick up your LEGO" but that doesn't sound right either!

Shib · March 2014

^I remember hearing that many times as a child! :-P

zipsforbananas · March 2014

TheLoneTensor said:
So in the rest-of-the-world, do you never say anything like the following?
And by you, I don't mean you or any fols. I'm talking about the general populace...

"Timmy, pick up your legos"....

I'm not being flippant, I'm genuinely curious. Conversations like that are the norm in the US.

You really would never hear that, it's as jarring for a Brit to hear that as it would be for you to hear "Timmy, pick up your Lego," and it's fascinating how such arbitrary rules of grammar seem to obvious to us when it's nothing more than colloquial usage.

Waaaaaay back in this thread Huw made a great point that common UK usage is a divergence from the official TLG rules; it's just that US usage is one step further on. It's like we're allowed to break the rules this much, but don't you dare break them more - how very British!!

Though I do half wonder if it's actually even more simple than that. I think perhaps the use of Lego as a noun is just that specifying "Lego pieces" or "Lego bricks" (or "Lego Technic elements...) isn't needed, so the noun is commonly omitted, and the adjective is used in its place as a noun - quite a normal and acceptable thing in language.
The difference is just that in the UK it somehow seems natural, because you would very rarely be talking about just one brick, to assume that Lego should be a mass noun, whereas in the US it's taken to be a count noun. I'd say that taking it as a mass noun seems intuitive, but then being British I would say that! Any ideas why that's not the case in America anyone?

sadowsk1 · March 2014

I like Lego and Legos. I agree with other posters, so long as they aren't associated with other brands, I'm good.

CapnRex101 · March 2014

Personally I say 'LEGO' but as long as everybody understands, either is fine in my opinion.

You do not need to shout 'LEGO' by the way as suggested by those capital letters, that was autocorrect!

tedward · March 2014

Here in Canada we get a lot of American influence in the language so we are probably the only place in the English-speaking world to be split to such an extent. What I find interesting is that the use of "Legos" is almost exclusively a non-fan thing. AFOL's that I have met are far more likely to use the proper "LEGO" and yes, you can even hear them capitalising the word. I would suggest that is a because it marks a distinction between insiders and outsiders combined with a generally rebellious nature towards the "Americanisation" of our culture.

ColoradoBricks · March 2014

Last night the Daily show made me think of this thread :)

plantman · March 2014

@CapnRex101 - I think you should make it a point to always shout "LEGO!" every time you say it so people don't know if you're crazy or not....

klatu003 · March 2014

The only reason I say/type Lego now is from peer pressure from this forum. I'm West Coast US and the argot is "Legos." My husband has picked up the new lingo and says "do you want to go to the brick store?" And I always answer "YES!"

TheLoneTensor · April 2014

So what do you in Britain (or elsewhere) say when there's a single piece? I will say "pick up that Lego."

Shib · April 2014

I'd say pick up that piece of Lego. But I think that some might drop the piece of.

Stvoyager04 · April 2014

I would say either of those, generally with a few expletives in between as it's likely that I would have just stepped on it!

SuperTramp · April 2014

Must be the same reason us Brits add a S to Math.

Stvoyager04 · April 2014

SuperTramp said:
Must be the same reason us Brits add a S to Math.

No we do that as the original word is Mathematics so shortened to Maths

Shib · April 2014

Lets not get started on that one.

ricecake · April 2014

Conservation of 'S'.

zipsforbananas · April 2014

SuperTramp said:
Must be the same reason us Brits add a S to Math.

Because this debate wasn't controversial enough... :P

klatu003 · April 2014

I always liked the way Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart said schedule.

Pitfall69 · April 2014

I just threw up in my mouth :0

rancorbait · April 2014

Pitfall69 said:
I just threw up in my mouth :0

Me too :ox

I hope one of those four comments was you ;o)

Pitfall69 · April 2014

They were all mine...lol.

rancorbait · April 2014

Hahaha, good for you! lol.

Paperbackwriter · April 2014

It's neither lego or Legos in my house. It's 'can't you find a different place to play with that crap. You're going to scratch the glass in the table top.'

Sigh...

Farmer_John · April 2014

The other day I awoke in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. I lay there for about an hour trying understand what was wrong and why I couldn't go back to sleep. Then it came to me...I remembered that I used the term "Legos" in a post some time back. I was racked with guilt and the need to ask for forgiveness and provide restitution to fellow AFOLs. How dare I!

Nope...never gonna happen!

Paperbackwriter · April 2014

Farmer_John said:
The other day I awoke in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. I lay there for about an hour trying understand what was wrong and why I couldn't go back to sleep. Then it came to me...I remembered that I used the term "Legos" in a post some time back. I was racked with guilt and the need to ask for forgiveness and provide restitution to fellow AFOLs. How dare I!

Nope...never gonna happen!

Takes a big man to admit such a big mistake. I have a lot of respect for someone who can change their ways. I hope this provides you with some closure. Huh. 'Closure'. In another ten years, there will only be three words left in most people's vocabulary. 'Ohmygod' (evolved into one word), awesome and closure.

pastelnerd · April 2014

It's like the gif debate (on that I'm on the side of I don't care). I think LEGO is being a little paranoid with insisting they be called LEGO bricks. I also think it doesn't matter what you call them as long as you don't call Legos Mega Bloks or Mega Bloks Legos. /my $0.02.

Farmer_John · April 2014

Okay...but does someone merit a death sentence if they use the term "Mega Legos?" I just need to know where the lines are...

scrumper · April 2014

"He said it again!"
"Stone him!"

Paperbackwriter · April 2014

scrumper said:
"He said it again!"
"Stone him!"

Blessed are the cheese makers.

legomatt · April 2014

Paperbackwriter said:

scrumper said:
"He said it again!"
"Stone him!"
Blessed are the cheese makers.

Not if those splitting/cracking issues continue. ;oP

TheLoneTensor · April 2014

I've noticed also that Popular Mechanics uses "legos" occasionally in their articles.

bobabricks · April 2014

I remember a lot of old instructions and lego mags had a little statement at the back saying to not referr to plural lego as Legos they want you to say lego bricks because if you think about it lego is a company if u get 3 burgers you don't say I just got 3 macdonalds :P

Matthew · April 2014

That would be this one:

Matthew said:

pastelnerd · April 2014

bobabricks said:
I remember a lot of old instructions and lego mags had a little statement at the back saying to not referr to plural lego as Legos they want you to say lego bricks because if you think about it lego is a company if u get 3 burgers you don't say I just got 3 macdonalds :P

But of course they have the McDouble.

Anyway, they are insisting this because they are worried that people will start calling all building brick Legos, kind of like copiers and Xerox. I think they're being a little paranoid personally. I think that they are more like Google. Why do people call searching Googling? Because they're the best search engine. What's the point of going anywhere else?

TheLoneTensor · April 2014

Google said:
Google is a brand name that is very special to all of us in the Google group of companies. We would sincerely appreciate your help in keeping it special by referring to our searches as "Google Searches or Queries" and not just "Googling". By doing so, you will be helping to protect and preserve a brand name that stands for quality the world over.

Yup, it sounds ridiculous and pompous there too.

zipsforbananas · April 2014

This one will trundle on forever if we have to decide which is correct.
I believe Lego has a better claim on that than Legos (in terms of the way proper nouns are normally used; that TLG insists it's so is only a minor point to me), but if Legos has become widely used in some contexts then who is to say that isn't a proper evolution of language in that context?

One thing I'm starting to wonder is whether Legos advocates appreciate how jarring it sounds to the rest of us.
All vacuum cleaners are Hoovers, internet searching is googling, but in a context where the use of the word Lego didn't develop that way (which Legos advocates have to admit is most of the world, no?) calling Lego bricks Legos sounds like calling space rockets NASAs - something only a child still learning the language would do, akin to saying "I goed there" instead of "I went there," applying what you know well, but not just knowing about a special rule.

It's curious that such opposite conclusions can seem equally obvious and natural to different English speakers, and conversely strange to each other, and I imagine I, as someone who refuses to pluralise Lego, seem unnecessarily fussy to someone who does. (And hey, on grammar I am pretty fussy, especially where apostrophes are concerned!)
But do those who do realise how gratingly unnatural they sound to those who don't?

CCC · April 2014

zipsforbananas said:

All vacuum cleaners are Hoovers

Not any more. How many people that have bought a Dyson refer to it as a Hoover (or the more generic written hoover). Dysons are better than Hoovers, and people that have forked out for one want you to know it.

TheLoneTensor · April 2014

zipsforbananas said:
This one will trundle on forever if we have to decide which is correct.
I believe Lego has a better claim on that than Legos (in terms of the way proper nouns are normally used; that TLG insists it's so is only a minor point to me), but if Legos has become widely used in some contexts then who is to say that isn't a proper evolution of language in that context?

One thing I'm starting to wonder is whether Legos advocates appreciate how jarring it sounds to the rest of us.
All vacuum cleaners are Hoovers, internet searching is googling, but in a context where the use of the word Lego didn't develop that way (which Legos advocates have to admit is most of the world, no?) calling Lego bricks Legos sounds like calling space rockets NASAs - something only a child still learning the language would do, akin to saying "I goed there" instead of "I went there," applying what you know well, but not just knowing about a special rule.

It's curious that such opposite conclusions can seem equally obvious and natural to different English speakers, and conversely strange to each other, and I imagine I, as someone who refuses to pluralise Lego, seem unnecessarily fussy to someone who does. (And hey, on grammar I am pretty fussy, especially where apostrophes are concerned!)
But do those who do realise how gratingly unnatural they sound to those who don't?

You're overanalyzing this. We've pretty much determined that in general, most Americans, and mostly only Americans call them Legos. They always have and they always will. In our vernacular, it simply looks and sounds right, but to others, it appears wrong. As an American, I think writing the word as "realiSe" is grating and unnatural, but I get over it, because I know that's natural to you, and just the way Brits do things.

The absurdity comes in when someone like Lego dictates to its customers what they should and should not do. Not only does it have the effectiveness of a flashlight on a sunny day, the request is pompous and ridiculous. The fact is, some language things you just need to accept, because they aren't going away.

Now, let's start talking about why "axing" a question and talking about "nuculear" energy is acceptable.

CCC · April 2014

If only they made them out of aluminium, .....

Pitfall69 · April 2014

I better start taking my vitamins.

Stvoyager04 · April 2014

@TheLoneTensor‌ - don't forget it is the English language (not the American language) so by default our version of an existing word is correct I.e. RealiSe, specialiSe, coloUr, flavoUr etc etc. most of these words were (probably) in use before America even existed.

New words - take your pick

(Then again considering most of the English language is derived from French, German and Latin none of us have really any cause for complaint about how language is used)

@zipsforbananas‌ - I feel like someone has just run a cheese grater down my face every time I see/hear the word Legos (and I have a similar feeling with the now constant misuse of the apostrophe)

Shib · April 2014

CCC said:

zipsforbananas said:

All vacuum cleaners are Hoovers

Not any more. How many people that have bought a Dyson refer to it as a Hoover (or the more generic written hoover). Dysons are better than Hoovers, and people that have forked out for one want you to know it.

Have to admit we've always called the Dyson a Hoover, it's just the accepted name here, even if it is more expensive.

TheLoneTensor · April 2014

Stvoyager04 said:
@TheLoneTensor‌ - don't forget it is the English language (not the American language) so by default our version of an existing word is correct I.e. RealiSe, specialiSe, coloUr, flavoUr etc etc. most of these words were (probably) in use before America even existed.

New words - take your pick

(Then again considering most of the English language is derived from French, German and Latin none of us have really any cause for complaint about how language is used)

@zipsforbananas‌ - I feel like someone has just run a cheese grater down my face every time I see/hear the word Legos (and I have a similar feeling with the now constant misuse of the apostrophe)

I see what you're doing there, and if we were really trying to show who was first, Latin would win. Regardless, if you ever find yourself in America, prepare your face for a cheese-grating, because you're going to be disappointed with how the mother tongue has been altered.

Btw, you did realize that with realize, -ize actually predates -ise, right?

Stvoyager04 · April 2014

@TheLoneTensor‌ - oh don't worry I've visited plenty of times, I even support one of your "football" teams (Go Pack Go!), but have had to remind myself "I'm on holiday just enjoy it" (I do actually quite like America I've holidayed there more than anywhere else - and have asked my bosses on several occasions to let me work there).

Anyway yes -ize does pre date -ise in general language terms (Latin used -ize), however in English -ise was used first (from French)

In any case I live just outside Manchester and, of all of our dialects, Mancunian is the worst in the country (I'm sure others will agree and disagree) - most of the time I don't understand what is being said, but I'm actually quite glad about it...

Pitfall69 · April 2014

Is "Geordie" your version of "Ebonics"? I swear I can't understand my friend from Newcastle.

CCC · April 2014

It's not really dialect, more just a strong accent. Many places in the UK have their own special words for certain things that may confuse others but it is not enough to be a distinct dialect. For example, I used to think nothing of asking for a wally in a chip shop, but don't do it now I live in the north of England.

Some accents are incredibly strong, the Geordie one is great, as is the Glaswegian although it takes a while to get used to it. I find I lose my accent easily enough, but soon get it back if I go to my home town.

TheLoneTensor · April 2014

Stvoyager04 said:
Anyway yes -ize does pre date -ise in general language terms (Latin used -ize), however in English -ise was used first (from French)

No, not in general and not as far back as Latin. Since inception of the word, British books and journals have always preferred realize over realise except for a period between about 1875 and about 1925. The same holds true today.

Anyway, back on point, "legos," you don't have to like it, but you need to learn to live with it :)

Crowkillers · April 2014

For every non United States based member here that never says Legos, when you go to a car show and you see a Gallardo, a Aventador, and a Murcielago all side by side, do you say "Check out those Lamborghinis", "Check out those Lamborghini" or "Check out those Lamborghini cars" ...?

zipsforbananas · April 2014

TheLoneTensor said:
You're overanalyzing this.

Who, me? Yeah, maybe! :P
Funny thing is I reckon that's the least penickety I've been about this, admitting that Legos can't necessarily be called wrong and wondering how we perceive each other. ;)

I must warn my fellow Brits against this whose-language-is-more-authentic battle we seem to be wading into, it's a painful thing!
Autumn and fall both originate at roughly the same time so autumn's not older.
To burgle and to burglarize I think are the same, late origin, unclear which came first.
Many British English speakers much prefer -ize to -ise (I think Inspector Morse once dismissed a man as illiterate for using -ise in an episode).
And all the Us that Americans so casually drop were introduced when French was en vogue and never belonged in the words we put them in to start with. Do Americans have the right to drop them? If not, who gave the Brits the right to put them in in the first place?
And that's not to mention all the bizarre spellings that came about for no better reason than how a word looked, Latinizing them to make them look more scholarly - we have form for unnecessarily odd language choices!
British English has evolved a lot since the pilgrims departed too; it was never a set or stable language anyway, and not remotely close to a pure one; so what are we ever going to prove?

LEGO vs legos

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