one die, several dice

dice is the plural for die (not dies) if it means Würfel; the die is cast; throw the dice.

there are other dies (sing. - die) that mean Stanze, etc. For instance something is die-cast.

but wait, leo says that dice is also singular for würfel

sry, but i'm kind of confused =/

alea jacta est - the die is cast (not the dice is cast) LEO's wrong there.

die2

• noun 1 singular form of DICE. 2 (pl. dies) a device for cutting or moulding metal or for stamping a design onto coins or medals.

— PHRASES the die is cast an event has happened that cannot be changed. (as) straight as a die 1 completely straight. 2 entirely open and honest.

— USAGE In modern English the singular die (rather than dice) for sense 1 is now uncommon. Dice is widely used for both the singular and the plural.

— ORIGIN Old French de, from Latin datum ‘something given or played’.
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/die_2?view=uk

dice

• noun (pl. same; sing. also die) a small cube with faces bearing from one to six spots, used in games of chance. See also DIE2.

• verb cut (food) into small cubes.

— PHRASES dice with death take serious risks. no dice informal, chiefly N. Amer. used to indicate an unsuccessful attempt or request.

— USAGE Historically, dice is the plural of die, but in modern standard English dice is used as both the singular and the plural.

— ORIGIN Old French des, plural of de, from Latin datum ‘something given or played’.
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/dice?view=uk


Dice is both singular and plural - at least in BE. But, a dice is never cast and a die is usually not thrown. As LEO does not suggest the phrase "to cast the dice" I cannot see where LEO is wrong.

You'll never go wrong if you stick with

one die, two dice

It's true that substituting the plural for the singular has apparently become common in BE, but even there it should certainly still be acceptable to use the true singular.

... that is, for the sense of Würfel. 'Die' in the sense of a machine tool has a regular plural anyway: one die, two dies.

Tja, diesen alten Faden muss ich dann wohl nochmal exhumieren...

Dictionary: dice

Wie ja durch Wörterbuchbelege auch inzwischen klargemacht wurde, darf 'dice' sehr wohl auch den Würfel im Singular bezeichnen.

Allerdings schweigt sich LEO über diese Verwendung völlig aus - zumindest soweit ich sehen kann (vgl. Link oben)

ES SEI DENN, diese Zeile:

die sg., usually in the plural: dice

ist mehrdeutig.

Man könnte sie nämlich zum einen so verstehen:

die (sg). im Plural normalerweise "dice" aber auch Standardplural "dies"

SOWIE

die (sg), Alternativschreibung "dice" (bezeichnet aber gewöhnlich den Plural; 'dice' in singularischer Bedeutung seltener)

Geht aus dem Stückchen Beschreibung nicht hervor.

Um -- I don't think you've really got it. You might need to reread the discussion.

I would understand die sg., usually in the plural: dice to mean that the singular is die, the plural is dice, but that the word is mainly used in the plural because games normally require the use of two dice.
Yes, people use dice incorrectly as the singular. I wouldn't recommend a non-native to follow that example.

Spike, please consider too that you're British, and things may be different in Britain (as mentioned far above in the thread somewhere). Whereas my English has always had a strong tendency towards AE, so I'd open the trunk in my car, and not the boot (I'd rather perform powerful kicks with the latter if need be, though ;-))
However, I should also add that they were utterly forcing British English upon us in school, until we suddenly got a teacher who was an American's wife, having lived in the States for quite awhile. That felt so relieving, especially because we did no longer get "corrected" whenever we pronounced I can't like in the US songs played in the radio (let alone the joy of learning English at a near-native level like hers, too)

I don't see that my being a BE speaker is relevant here (particularly not in a negative sense :-)) as hm - us, an AE speaker, sees it the same way as me.

#2 Your 'alea jacta est'
seems to be the American spelling of Latin.

that is not #2 but #3 (user=dude)

True. Sorry for that.

die sg., usually in the plural: dice isn't that easy to unpack, but I agree with #9 and, in particular, with the usage guidance.

isn't that easy to unpack

is a very euphemistic expression for "may lead the reader down a false trail".
Correct. :)

isn't that easy to unpack

is new to me as a native speaker. It would help to use non-idiomatic language here to facilitate comprehension for all concerned: non-native speakers and older native speakers.
:-)

I agree with #9 Spike.

#17. Are you using non-idiomatic to mean (idiomatic) simplified basic English?
Are you are complaining that my #15 was too difficult for LEO participants to understand? Did you see the smiley in #16?
It's perfectly good English idiom and not all that hard to figure out. Maybe those who have never seen it will learn something.

OT:
What's the German term for unwinding or decoding a Schachtelsatz?

#5 (hm -- us): It's true that substituting the plural for the singular has apparently become common in BE, but even there it should certainly still be acceptable to use the true singular.
Yes, but in ordinary conversation (in BE) I think it sounds slightly pedantic to say "throw the die", though it may be appropriate in a written / more formal context.

#10 (enigma): Spike, please consider too that you're British, and things may be different in Britain - !!
Why should a British person have to "consider" this, as though AE were automatically to be taken as the norm and BE an aberration?! OK, so you personally prefer AE, but that's another matter.

#17 Please don't ask for non-idiomatic (= inauthentic, odd-sounding) English here - we get quite enough as it is! :-)

While we're about to exhume yet another thread: I'd also like to comment on Dude's #3(mainly because I know he's still around) "alea iacta est" = "the die is cast". This is a common misconception. "Alea" is indeed a singular, but it stands not for one die, but for a set of dice.

Therefore: "alea iacta est" = "the dice are cast".

Nevertheless, the standard rendering of that phrase in English is 'The die is cast.' And I believe the traditional spelling in English is 'jacta.'

Hecuba's example is interesting. I'm not sure I would often say 'Throw/Roll the die' either, not least because most games have a pair of dice. But on the other hand, if I say 'Throw/Roll the dice,' I don't think I'm exactly thinking of it as a singular, even if there's only one of them.

I don't think mentioning that there may be some BE/AE difference is necessarily privileging either over the other, though in this case, the difference may not be as much BE/AE as individual.

Learners should just be aware that this is one of those things that can sound more wrong coming from non-natives.

#21 "And I believe the traditional spelling in English is 'jacta.'"
Well, keep on believing!
But the Romans did not have the letter 'J'. Sorry.
Neither was there the letter 'W, Y, Z', by the way...

As I recall, they also didn't have U, or perhaps even small letters for that matter. But nevertheless, we don't write 'E PLVRIBVS VNVM,' because we aren't ancient Romans.

#21 I don't think mentioning that there may be some BE/AE difference is necessarily privileging either over the other

Of course not. As you may have noticed, I frequently draw attention to such differences. I was commenting on enigma's formulation,
Spike, please consider too that you're British, and things may be different in Britain.

Different from what? It was not specified in the thread what kind of English was being sought.

So remember, US contributors, always bear in mind that you're American and things may be different in America. :-)

Wow, that's JUST what I needed...getting mimicked, on top of that. Thanks a lot.

Hecuba's comment ("It was not specified in the thread what kind of English was being sought.") was justified, though. I basically agree with all of his/her #19 too.