[Editors] style

[William Litant]

Here's one that makes me crazy (typical compulsiveness). In the 
course of editing, I note that a few of our faculty use the word 
"homeworks" as the plural for "homework." I haven't seen it used 
elsewhere (OK, Google comes up with a few instances), it's not in the 
dictionary, spellcheck never heard of it, and I did my grad work in 
education and never saw it in my reading. I wouldn't say "throughout 
the term, I give my students works to do at home" (unless I give them 
factories to take with them). Do others run into this? If so, do you 
leave it alone or excise the "s"? I would tend to remove it, 
particularly for the purpose of consistency in publications that 
include several pieces where both "homework" and "homeworks" are 
submitted, but I'm curious what others do.

Best,
Bill Litant
-- 
Because he's hiding.
-George W. Bush's response to a reporter's asking why Osama Bin Laden 
hasn't been found.

William T.G. Litant
Communications Director, Aeronautics and Astronautics Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts  Ave. 37-395
Cambridge, MA 02139
wlitant at mit.edu
(617) 253-1564