--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ... as a rule of thumb, whenever there…" description: "\"... as a rule of thumb, whenever there appears a plural, correct for a singular. Should I ever let slip a royal WE, put me out of my misery with a swif..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ae/nicole-krauss-920_blow_as-a-rule-of-thumb-whenever-there-appear_254163.png" --- # ... as a rule of thumb, whenever there appears a plural… ![“... as a rule of thumb, whenever there appears a plural, correct for a singular. Should I ever let slip a royal WE, put me out of my misery with a swift blow to the head.” quote by Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ae/nicole-krauss-920_blow_as-a-rule-of-thumb-whenever-there-appear_254163.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ae/nicole-krauss-920_blow_as-a-rule-of-thumb-whenever-there-appear_254163.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ae/nicole-krauss-920_blow_as-a-rule-of-thumb-whenever-there-appear_254163.png) > “... as a rule of thumb, whenever there appears a plural, correct for a singular. Should I ever let slip a royal WE, put me out of my misery with a swift blow to the head.” [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When plural nouns appear, default to singular; avoid royal "we" to prevent self‑inflicted harm. **In simple terms:** Prefer singular forms; avoid grandiose language. Key Takeaway Use precise language, stay grounded. Themes language precision self‑care Mood thoughtful cautious Type prescriptive philosophical When to use this quote - writing - public speaking - personal reflection Key Concepts grammar psychology Questions to Reflect On - Is singular always clearer? - When is collective language appropriate? A Different Perspective Over‑correction can make speech stilted. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Appears Plural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appears-plural-2521591/) [Blow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blow/) [Correct Singular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/correct-singular-2441015/) [Misery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery/) [Plural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plural/) [Plural Correct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plural-correct-2441016/) [Royal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/royal/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Singular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/singular/) [Thumbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thumbs/) ## Related quotes > [The truth was I'd given up waiting long ago. The moment had passed, the door between the lives we could have led and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/the-truth-was-i-d-given-up-waiting-long-ago-the-moment-had-passed-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Cut off my head, and singular I am, Cut off my tail, and plural I appear; Although my middle's left, there's nothing there! What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/cut-off-my-head-and-singular-i-am-cut-off-my-tail-and-plural-i-appear/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Consciousness is a singular for which there is no plural.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-schrodinger/consciousness-is-a-singular-for-which-there-is-no-plural/) [Erwin Schrodinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-schrodinger/) > [There’s no such thing as technology in the singular, only technologies in the plural.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-michael-greer/there-s-no-such-thing-as-technology-in-the-singular-only-technologies/) [John Michael Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-michael-greer/) > [“Odd choice of a word, isn’t it? Fish is either singular, or plural. Imagine my surprise when I walked in the study and found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-probst/odd-choice-of-a-word-isn-t-it-fish-is-either-singular-or-plural/) [Jennifer Probst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-probst/) > [“plural is generally formed from the singular by the addition of s or es.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-devlin/plural-is-generally-formed-from-the-singular-by-the-addition-of-s-or/) [Joseph Devlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-devlin/) > [Remember: Y'all is singular. All y'all is plural. All y'all's is plural possessive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kinky-friedman/remember-y-all-is-singular-all-y-all-is-plural-all-y-all-s-is-plural/) [Kinky Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kinky-friedman/) > [...The plural of elf is elves! What a language! What a world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/the-plural-of-elf-is-elves-what-a-language-what-a-world/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“A popular Internet essay notes: “There is no egg in egg plant, neither apple nor pine in pineapple. A guinea pig is neither from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-notbohm/a-popular-internet-essay-notes-there-is-no-egg-in-egg-plant-neither/) [Ellen Notbohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-notbohm/) > [The word 'universe' is obviously not intended to have a plural, but science has evolved in such a way that we need a plural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/the-word-universe-is-obviously-not-intended-to-have-a-plural-but/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [“I may not be like the women who came before me, but there are some things that are the same. I want a husband…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-cates/i-may-not-be-like-the-women-who-came-before-me-but-there-are-some/) [Georgia Cates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-cates/) > [World is crazier and more of it than we think, Incorrigibly plural.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/world-is-crazier-and-more-of-it-than-we-think-incorrigibly-plural/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [Christmas and the New Year are actually two holidays. So there is a plural, which in the English language, necessitates the use of 's.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/christmas-and-the-new-year-are-actually-two-holidays-so-there-is-a/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [“I could have been hanging out with my friends, but most of them were hanging out with their families or their Wiis. (Wiis? Wiii?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/i-could-have-been-hanging-out-with-my-friends-but-most-of-them-were/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“When they – I cannot bring myself to use the first-person plural in this instance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/when-they-i-cannot-bring-myself-to-use-the-first-person-plural-in/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) ## More by Nicole Krauss > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I think of novels as houses. You live in them over the course of a long period, both as a reader and as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-think-of-novels-as-houses-you-live-in-them-over-the-course-of-a/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [When we went into the ocean, I watched his body as he dove into the waves, and it gave me a feeling in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/when-we-went-into-the-ocean-i-watched-his-body-as-he-dove-into-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“There are times when the kindness of strangers only makes matter worse because one realizes how badly one is in need of kindness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/there-are-times-when-the-kindness-of-strangers-only-makes-matter/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [She was gone, and all that was left was the space where you'd grown around her, like a tree that grows around a fence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/she-was-gone-and-all-that-was-left-was-the-space-where-you-d-grown/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“The air felt different in my lungs. The world no longer looked the same. You change and then you change again. You become a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/the-air-felt-different-in-my-lungs-the-world-no-longer-looked-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“The first language humans had was gestures. There was nothing primitive about this language that flowed from people’s hands, nothing we say now that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/the-first-language-humans-had-was-gestures-there-was-nothing/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I feel really strongly about not wanting to overly guide the reader about what he or she should think. I really trust the reader…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-feel-really-strongly-about-not-wanting-to-overly-guide-the-reader/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Mom?" I said. She turned. "Can I talk to you about something?" "Of course, darling. Come here." I took a few steps into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/mom-i-said-she-turned-can-i-talk-to-you-about-something-of-course/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [In one's youth, one has tremendous access to one's feelings. And as one gets older, some of those feelings kind of drift away. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/in-one-s-youth-one-has-tremendous-access-to-one-s-feelings-and-as-one/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Obviously I've been reading Kafka for a long long time, since I was really young, and even before I ever read him I knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/obviously-i-ve-been-reading-kafka-for-a-long-long-time-since-i-was/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“She's kept her love for him as alive as the summer they first met. In order to do this, she's turned life away. Sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/she-s-kept-her-love-for-him-as-alive-as-the-summer-they-first-met-in/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Sometimes no length of string is long enough to say the thing that needs to be said. In such cases all the string can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/sometimes-no-length-of-string-is-long-enough-to-say-the-thing-that/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Doesn’t part of the awe that fills us when we confront the unknown come from understanding that, should it at last flood into us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/doesn-t-part-of-the-awe-that-fills-us-when-we-confront-the-unknown/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“I knew how to raise my own child, what did he think it was, a game of Scrabble or Monopoly, there are no rules,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-knew-how-to-raise-my-own-child-what-did-he-think-it-was-a-game-of/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) [Explore all 323 Nicole Krauss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) ## More Blow quotes > [The wind always seems to blow against catchers when they are running.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-garagiola/the-wind-always-seems-to-blow-against-catchers-when-they-are-running/) [Joe Garagiola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-garagiola/) > [Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout Till you have drenched our teeples, drowned the cocks! You sulphurour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/blow-winds-and-crack-your-cheeks-rage-blow-you-cataracts-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If he wants to blow his head off, let him. I don't give a damn about Jim Bakker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-hahn/if-he-wants-to-blow-his-head-off-let-him-i-don-t-give-a-damn-about/) [Jessica Hahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-hahn/) > [If we blow ourselves up we will do it by misapplication of science; if we manage to keep from blowing ourselves up, it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/if-we-blow-ourselves-up-we-will-do-it-by-misapplication-of-science-if/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me! A fine wind is blowing the new direction of Time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/not-i-not-i-but-the-wind-that-blows-through-me-a-fine-wind-is-blowing/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [The only two good words that can be said for a hurricane are that it gives sufficient warning of its approach, and that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-atherton/the-only-two-good-words-that-can-be-said-for-a-hurricane-are-that-it/) [Gertrude Atherton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-atherton/) > [Music is a wind that blows away the years, memories, and fear, that crouching animal I carry inside me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/music-is-a-wind-that-blows-away-the-years-memories-and-fear-that/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [The supposedly immaterial soul, we now know, can be bisected with a knife, altered by chemicals, started or stopped by electricity, and extinguished by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-supposedly-immaterial-soul-we-now-know-can-be-bisected-with-a/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [One of the wonderful things about Portlandia - and I'm not just blowing smoke, although I can blow smoke, but I'm not - is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-raab/one-of-the-wonderful-things-about-portlandia-and-i-m-not-just-blowing/) [Scott Raab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-raab/) > [I would always find a way to blow the deal and I'm not sure why. 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Guys would drink and fight one another like circle saws.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-armstrong/the-brick-house-was-one-of-the-toughest-joints-i-ever-played-in-guys/) [Louis Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-armstrong/) [Browse all 2,324 Blow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blow/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "... as a rule of thumb, whenever there appears a plural, correct for a singular. 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