Mascot?

[KNovac06]

<p>I know that the mascot is the phoenix, but when refering to more than one do you call them phoenixes or phoeni?</p>

[lderochi]

<p>From the Winston-Salem Journal</p>

<p>

Recently, a reader asked how the plural and the plural possessive of Phoenix should be written. She had in mind the names of the athletic teams at Elon University. Each of the teams is called the Phoenix. The answer was that the name of each team is invariably singular, so there would never be a need for a plural or a plural possessive. As Elon’s sports information director put it, “At Elon there are no Phoneixes.”</p>

<p>The uncapitalized word phoenix refers to a legendary bird that lived 500 years, burned itself on a pyre and rose from the ashes. The plural is phoenixes. The singular possessive is a writer’s choice, either phoenix’ or phoenix’s. Writing style at the Journal calls for phoenix’s. The plural possessive is phoenixes’.

</p>