Why the heck does 'score' mean 20? How we subconsciously know how to pronounce different plurals.

<p>929. While we were looking into why we use the word "score" to mean "twenty," our minds were blown by how many languages still have remnants of a base-20 counting system. And then we learned the secret rules that explain why some plurals end with an "s" sound and others end with a "z" sound. It was quite a week!</p><p>| <strong>Transcript:</strong>  https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/score-dogz/transcript</p><p>| The "score" segment was written by Susan K. Herman, <i> </i>a retired U.S. Government multidisciplined language analyst, analytic editor, and language instructor.</p><p>| The "Cats and Dogz" segment was written by Valerie Fridland, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada in Reno and the author of "<a href="https://amzn.to/3WGzcGg">Like Literally, Dude</a>: Arguing for the Good in Bad English." You can find her at <a href="http://valeriefridland.com/">valeriefridland.com</a></p><p>| <a href="https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/subscribe">Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates</a>.</p><p>| <a href="https://j.mp/3oooKmK">Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.</a></p><p>| <a href="https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/grammar-girl-s-peeve-wars">Peeve Wars card game</a>. </p><p>| <a href="https://bit.ly/GrammarPopBooks">Grammar Girl books</a>. </p><p>| HOST: Mignon Fogarty</p><p>| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or <a href="https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl">https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl</a></p><p>| Grammar Girl is part of <a href="https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/podcasts">the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network</a>.</p><ul><li>Audio engineer: Nathan Semes</li><li>Editor: Adam Cecil</li><li>Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson</li><li>Marketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina Tomlin</li><li>Digital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings</li><li>Intern: Kamryn Lacy</li></ul><p>| Theme music by <a href="https://dashboard.simplecast.com/accounts/dd74e7bd-f654-43a6-b249-3f071c897900/shows/e7b2fc84-d82d-4b4d-980c-6414facd80c3/episodes/cfec9501-0b7a-4