Antennae

April 25th, 2007 by k8gu Leave a reply »

I saw the incorrect use of “antennae” on eHam again this morning. From the authority (Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language):

antenna (an ten’ e), n., pl. -tennas for 1; -tennae for 2. 1. Radio. a conductor by which electromagnetic waves are sent out or received, consisting commonly of a wire or set of wires; aerial. 2. Zool. one of the jointed, movable, sensory appendages occurring in pairs on the heads of insects and most other arthropods.

I think this is pretty clear: hams have antennas, bugs have antennae.

Advertisement