ulif
commented
4 years ago Hi @adinklotz, thanks for being so attentive!
At least this is the first time, somebody complains about "dice" being the "wrong" singular. I am not a native speaker, therefore I try to follow the Cambridge Dictionary when in doubt of correct grammar/spelling. Generally, I prefer BE over AE, but this is a matter of personal taste.
For "dice" as a singular noun, I followed the Cambridge Dictionary, which states
dice (GAME) noun C2 (US also or old use die) a small cube (= object with six equal square sides) with a different number of spots on each side, used in games involving chance: "We need two dice to play the game". "You roll/throw the dice and whoever gets the highest score goes first."
Also the OLD refers to the singular as "dice": https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/dice_1
You might find it interesting, that several native speakers already sent grammar/spelling fixes (which I really appreciate), but none of them took offense in the use of "dice" as singular. On the contrary, some years ago I got a message from a friendly person who suggested to stick with "dice" as singular. Until then I was unaware of both forms being in use and mainly used "die".
Some random discussions of the topic, which also make me feel that "dice" is not necessarily the best but at least the better choice:
- https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/die-or-dice.3458901/
- https://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2006/09/die-and-dice.html
Please tell if there are important facts I missed! I like language-related topics :)
adinklotz
This is a truly minor nitpick, but it's one die, multiple dice - in a couple places the CLI would refer to 'a dice', which I've corrected