The Power of One, Measly Letter

RAY: I have, written on a piece of paper in front of me, a word that is plural and also masculine. Now, I know we don't have masculine and feminine words in English the way we do in Italian or French. But, we do have words that connote masculinity. For example, the word "boys" is a plural word that connotes masculinity.

The word I have written here is like "boys." It's masculine, and ends in "s." Not only that, but you change this word from plural to singular and from masculine to feminine, all by adding an "s" to it!

I spent last night reading the entire Oxford English Dictionary, and I only found one example for which this works.

Think you know? Drop Ray a note!

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]