Plural of snus?

[Roo]

Thom put a bomb in the tomb and thought he caught a comb to take home. English spelling makes perfect sense.

[chadizzy1]

Thom put a bomb in the tomb and thought he caught a comb to take home. English spelling makes perfect sense.

so stealing that. haha. that was a good one.

[blotgode]

[img]http://a05-b05.mypicturetown.com:80/P2PwebCmdController/cache/ci%3D2_7i*V4jSB%25opGJ%25qecve9Fu7AuIqG7Os_aRGaQ2PpBJpQ %3D1U4K%25rDkRA8spA/item.jpg?rot=1[/img]

Taken from The Swedish Academy.

:shock: :roll: 8) :? :wink: :twisted:

[Snusdog]

Blot

Thanks bro. This is also the info that Chossy sent us the link to (so thanks also to Chossy as well)

Help me understand this:

Snus = ground tobacco. Snusare = person who uses ground tobacco.


Snus s. -et -er (what are et and er?)

Snusare s. -n; =, best. Plural snusarna (what does =, best. mean?)



Am I correct that the entry “snus” gives no plural form?

Am I correct that I see no listing for “snusar”?


Blotgod thank you and the rest of our Swedes/Fins so much for your help and patience in this matter.

Peace,
dog

[chossy]

Blot

Thanks bro. This is also the info that Chossy sent us the link to (so thanks also to Chossy as well)

Help me understand this:

Snus = ground tobacco. Snusare = person who uses ground tobacco.


Snus s. -et -er (what are et and er?)

Snusare s. -n; =, best. Plural snusarna (what does =, best. mean?)



Am I correct that the entry “snus” gives no plural form?

Am I correct that I see no listing for “snusar”?


Blotgod thank you and the rest of our Swedes/Fins so much for your help and patience in this matter.

Peace,
dog

Hi dog, hope you are ok today


Let´s see if we can clear some of the questions.

Snuset = The snus
Snuser = The only meaning I can attribute to this has to be snus in plural as in: I use five different snus(er) Swedish: Jag använder fem olika snuser, which sounds a bit odd but it´s possible imo.

best. means bestämd form, not sure how to translate it, but directly it means decisive form, I think. I´m not too good at grammar explanationstuff.

Anywhoo, what I see from this is it should be snuser, sounds weird perhaps but thats my best guess.

[chadizzy1]

This has been a long lasting, intelligent thread.

Wait...is this to mean....I'm made a thread that MEANT SOMETHING? Alas, did I do something that no one complained about?

YES! Sweeeeeet...sweeeeeeet, sweet victory!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G6Hn0ozX1w

[Snusdog]

Hi dog, hope you are ok today

Let´s see if we can clear some of the questions.

Snuset = The snus
Snuser = The only meaning I can attribute to this has to be snus in plural as in: I use five different snus(er) Swedish: Jag använder fem olika snuser, which sounds a bit odd but it´s possible imo.

best. means bestämd form, not sure how to translate it, but directly it means decisive form, I think. I´m not too good at grammar explanationstuff.

Anywhoo, what I see from this is it should be snuser, sounds weird perhaps but thats my best guess.

Chossy thanks mate that is a big help. You guys have been great.

I too am a bit dubious about the “er” As you said it sound akward. Also with every other entry the plural form is specifically identified with “pl” here the “er” has no such indication.

I would love to here what blotgod thinks on the matter

As it stands now I am beginning to lean more and more to my initial hunch that the word “snus” in proper Swedish is a collective singular and thus has no plural form. However, the plural forms that we have seen from you, Blot, and the Fin, Mr. 82487395843553434 are in fact dialectical adaptations that have been folded into the popular usage over time. This might explain all the disagreement from earlier in the thread as well as the difficulty transitioning the form to English. Also, from a purely ostensive reference point of view a collective makes much more sense. The thing in the world to which the word “Snus” points is a consolidated collection not a single entity.


Anyway thanks again so much for your help and patience

Snuson bro 8)


Blotgod, let us here form you.

[chadizzy1]

Blotgod, let us here form you.

hear
from

Oh c'mon now, thought you were the English pro

[blotgode]

Hi dog, hope you are ok today

Let´s see if we can clear some of the questions.

Snuset = The snus
Snuser = The only meaning I can attribute to this has to be snus in plural as in: I use five different snus(er) Swedish: Jag använder fem olika snuser, which sounds a bit odd but it´s possible imo.

best. means bestämd form, not sure how to translate it, but directly it means decisive form, I think. I´m not too good at grammar explanationstuff.

Anywhoo, what I see from this is it should be snuser, sounds weird perhaps but thats my best guess.

Chossy thanks mate that is a big help. You guys have been great.

I too am a bit dubious about the “er” As you said it sound akward. Also with every other entry the plural form is specifically identified with “pl” here the “er” has no such indication.

I would love to here what blotgod thinks on the matter

As it stands now I am beginning to lean more and more to my initial hunch that the word “snus” in proper Swedish is a collective singular and thus has no plural form. However, the plural forms that we have seen from you, Blot, and the Fin, Mr. 82487395843553434 are in fact dialectical adaptations that have been folded into the popular usage over time. This might explain all the disagreement from earlier in the thread as well as the difficulty transitioning the form to English. Also, from a purely ostensive reference point of view a collective makes much more sense. The thing in the world to which the word “Snus” points is a consolidated collection not a single entity.


Anyway thanks again so much for your help and patience

Snuson bro 8)


Blotgod, let us here form you.

Hi Dog, the best explanation i´ve got is that snuser is an old word, it´s mentioned in old dictionaries, and in one dictionary they wrote that no such word exist????
In the right column of the copy from "the Swedish academy" you can read snus.ning -en -ar......I can´t find out more of snus in plural :cry:
when i´m talking about snus i´ll say: about cans, one or ten=SNUS
about what´s in the can= one SNUS, ten SNUSAR :roll: :roll: :roll:

[NorSnuser]

Chossy thanks mate that is a big help. You guys have been great.

I too am a bit dubious about the “er” As you said it sound akward. Also with every other entry the plural form is specifically identified with “pl” here the “er” has no such indication.

I would love to here what blotgod thinks on the matter

As it stands now I am beginning to lean more and more to my initial hunch that the word “snus” in proper Swedish is a collective singular and thus has no plural form. However, the plural forms that we have seen from you, Blot, and the Fin, Mr. 82487395843553434 are in fact dialectical adaptations that have been folded into the popular usage over time. This might explain all the disagreement from earlier in the thread as well as the difficulty transitioning the form to English. Also, from a purely ostensive reference point of view a collective makes much more sense. The thing in the world to which the word “Snus” points is a consolidated collection not a single entity.

I see what you're driving at. My Skeat etymological dictionary is in some unknown box, but I do know that snuss is Low German for the snout. I think Danish is snude, Bavarian schnud to schnauden (to snuff, pant, draw breath). I don't think the "er" ending looks awkward as it's just a standard Swedish third declension noun. If I remember correctly the original root is SNAP which meant to gasp or draw in breath quickly. It might even be cognate with snap, to grab something quickly.

Nasal snuff came before oral snuff I believe (I could be wrong) and snuff was named after the action, referring to the thing sniffed. Later, I'm guessing any tobacco product used in the mouth became snuff (snus). This is where your argument could be valid with the following line of reasoning. Early on all snus was just snus and plurals may have not been necessary. There may even have been no distinction between nasal and oral snus. With the advent of brands and different types (portions) then a third declension plural could have come into being out of a collective plural. Mercantilism once again changing the use of language.

Unfortunately, we need access to a Swedish etymological dictionary to clear this up and I haven't had much luck. I did find a Swedish grammar in English that is worth a look. Unfortunately it's on Google and isn't complete.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Z0v...0nouns&f=false

[Snusdog]

Guys, great posts and insights!!! Thanks for all your input. This is fascinating and there seems to be enough ambiguity around the plural to warrant further investigation. As it stands it certainly looks like the plural is a later (and thus a less well established) form. However, that said, norsnuser is right. We need an Etymological dictionary to answer this definitively.

In the meantime, the web site that Chossy sent us gave me another idea:

I just shot an email off to the head librarian at the Nobel library. Maybe he will be willing to help us. Anyway here is a copy of the email

Dear Lars Rydquist,

I have a question to which I have not been able to find the answer and thought that maybe you could help resolve the matter.

Can you please tell me if the Swedish word "snus" is a collective noun or if it has a proper plural form?

Thank you for your time and assistance.

Regards,

Again Guys thanks for all your help. This has been fun and maybe we can find an answer at last.

[chadizzy1]

The verdict is in!



"Dear Mr. Jones:

Your question was forwarded to me, and I am happy to respond. I apologize for the delay; I was out of the office for the last two weeks, and I am just now working my way through the backlog of e-mail.

The English plural of "Snus" (which rhymes with "goose" and is also spelled "snus") would be "Snuses" or "snuses." I cannot imagine anyone having a frequent need for the plural form, but it does exist.

Michael G. Belanger
Associate Editor
Merriam-Webster,Inc.
Springfield, MA 01102
mbelanger@Merriam-Webster.com
http://www.Merriam-Webster.com"

[RRK]

Impressive. 8)

[MrSnusNSnuff]

Sneese. It's definitely sneese.

Per Webstar's Bullshit Dictionary:

snus (sn-oo-se): 1. Pure deliciousness. 2. An addictive form of tobacco that kicks ass and doesn't harm your health (hopefully). 3. Like crack cocaine, bitches. Example: That Hot Dog on A Stick is snus, especially with Dijon mustard.
Plural usage: sneese Ex: I got sneese in my freezer, y'all.

[58328832]

http://sv.wiktionary.org/wiki/snus

Of course, this may have little to do with the English usage, but at least Swedish Wiktionary says "snus" is an uncountable ("oräknebar") noun, which sounds right to me.

The "best." = "bestämd form" means definite form, i.e. "the snus" (Swedes use a suffix where in English there would be a definite article).

I'm quite confused about the dictionary page some of the Swedes posted here and the "snus, -en, -er" because -er is clearly not a definite suffix, and if it were a plural suffix, it would be very irregular. And doesn't sound right to me (although I rarely hear Swedes speak Swedish, and Finland-Swedes speak a different dialect). For the record, I'm not a Finland-Swede either, but I know many of them and speak Swedish with them every now and then.

As for the other words mentioned:
"snusare" = someone who uses snus
"snusa" = to use snus ("snusar" is the inflected form used with personal pronouns)
"snusning" = the use of snus
"snusen" - according to the dictionary page it's colloquial word "berusad" = drunk, so it's a completely different word
If snus was a countable noun in Swedish, "snusen" would be a regular form for definite plural, but apparently it's not, so just forget what I said about the word in my earlier post.

The Swedes here most likely know more about Swedish than me and the guy from Merriam-Webster knows more about English than me, though.

Finally, about my name, it's just random numbers, and I wouldn't mind if it could be changed into something more meaningful