Dear Tom and Ray:

My husband and I recently had a question we thought you might be able to answer. This question is a little off-beat, but we're curious. What is the plural of Lexus? Amy

Tom: Well, Amy, the problem is nobody knows, because no one's ever been able to afford more than one Lexus. So we'll just have to speculate.

Ray: We suspect that the root of Lexus is Latin. And we traced it back to one of two possible roots. One is Latin for "half-price Mercedes." And the other, roughly translated, means "Japanese Buick." My guess is it's probably the former.

Tom: Also, sticking with Latin, we see two possible declensions. There's the "opus" model, of which the plural is "opera." So if we follow that rule, the plural of Lexus would be Lexera. One Lexus, two Lexera.

Ray: More likely, Lexus follows the same rule as Taurus, which pluralizes as Tauri. So we'd have one Lexus, and two Lexi. Personally, I think that sounds classier.

Tom: And as soon as we find an English professor who owns more than one Lexus, Amy, we'll give you the definitive answer.

Tom and Ray lead you step by step through the process of finding and buying a reliable used car in their pamphlet How to Buy a Used Car: Things That Detroit and Tokyo Don't Want You to Know. To order, To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1992 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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