I have written a limerick for OEDILF with the word fajita in the singular form. The workshoppers think that fajita is only plural and want me to change the wording of the line, which, in all fairness, wouldn't be hard. Still, I am wondering, can't fajita be both singular and plural? Don't you ask for a fajita, when you order just one, in a restaurant? Or is there a singular word for it that we should be using?
I did search the dictionaries, and they define fajita and then say the plural is fajita. One dictionary did say that it is usually used in the plural form.
I believe the noun is derived from the verb "fajar", to wrap. Most Spanish nouns, like most English nouns, become plural by adding an "s" and I'd have thought fajita was no exception.
I am not familiar with Guatamala or its ladies of the night, but I could hazard a guess as to why this particular soubriquet has been given to them
Richard English
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK
An accurate translation of "fajitas" might be "little pieces of skirt steak", so "a fajita" doesn't seem right as the name for a full serving. However, according to dictionary.com, "fajitas" may be used with a singular or plural noun. The derivation is given in various sources as "fascia", from the Latin for a band or sheet of connective tissue.
Posts: 2605 | Location: As they say at 101.5FM: Not New York... Not Philadelphia... PROUD TO BE NEW JERSEY!