Flamingos, flamingoes or flamin-goals?

Flamingo’ is a versatile word with a lot of potential for symbolic references. (Note: I didn’t say ‘a lot of potentials’ because ‘potential’ is uncountable. We don’t pluralise it.) It — flamingo — on Saturday became more iconic in Nigeria and Africa in general when the Flamingos conquered the world, making history as the first team on the continent to win the Under-17 Women’s World Cup. Their male counterparts, the Golden Eaglets, had as far back as 1985, performed the same or even grander feat by winning the maiden edition of the Under-17 soccer feast. We say ‘Bravo!’ to the golden girls while wishing them further victories.

The flying flamingos

 A gregarious lot, flamingos are pink birds with thick beaks, slender legs, long, graceful necks, large wings, and short tails. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, they range from about 90 to 150 cm (3 to 5 feet) tall. Britannica adds: “Flamingos are highly gregarious birds. Flocks numbering in the hundreds may be seen in long, curving flight formations and in wading groups along the shore. On some of East Africa’s large lakes, more than a million lesser flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor) gather during the breeding season.“In flight, flamingos present a striking and beautiful sight, with legs and neck stretched out straight, looking like white and rosy crosses with black arms. No less interesting is the flock at rest, with their long necks twisted or coiled upon the body in any conceivable position. Flamingos are often seen standing on one leg. Various reasons for this habit have been suggested, such as regulation of body temperature, conservation of energy, or merely to dry out the legs.”

As a writer, one can figuratively engage some of the above attributes, and now that the Nigerian gallant Eaglets have imbued the term ‘flamingos’ with excellence and grand success, the metaphor has become more elastic. For one, the teamwork on which the players rode to victory reminds one of the gregarious nature of flamingos.

Double plural

As an English word, ‘flamingo’ also has a relatively unique character. Unlike many other nouns that have just one plural form, it has two: flamingos and flamingoes. This means that both are correct, though the latter is older and less popular:

   There is a flamingo in the garden.

   There are two flamingos in the garden. (Correct)

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   There are two flamingoes in the garden. (Correct)

Does it mean that Nigeria’s winning girls can then be called ‘The Flamingoes’? Yes and no. ‘Yes’ because as a grammatical word, ‘flamingo’ can either be pluralised as ‘flamingos’ or ‘flamingoes’. However, the answer is ‘No’ because the owners of the team have called them ‘Flamingos’. In language, you don’t just rewrite a person’s or an institution’s name no matter your feelings about it. For example, although we normally write ‘centre’ following the British English tradition, if a company’s or organization’s name is Legends’ Center, you do not write it as Legends’ Centre whether it is located in Nigeria or abroad. The formal name of an institution is sacrosanct. So, the name of our team remains the Flamingos and not the Flamingoes.

Flamin-goals

Still on the name: although I won’t call the soccer babes ‘Flamingoes’, if the Nigeria Football Federation will allow me, I will rather baptise them as the Flamin-goals! The reason is that they proved to be goal kings as they flogged their opponents with beautiful goals when it mattered most. By the way, what word formation type does ‘Flamin-goals’ exemplify? Blending!

Other nouns with two plurals

Other common nouns with two plurals include formula (formulas, formulae), medium (media, mediums), memorandum (memoranda, memorandums), antenna (antennas, antennae), appendix (appendixes, appendices), curriculum (curriculums, curricula), index (indexes, indices), vortex (vortexes, vortices) and cactus (cactuses, cacti). In some cases, each of the options is more suitable for a particular context. For instance, while appendixes is more of a medical term, appendices is a book/publishing register.