I've Googled, but came up a bit empty, what is the singular form of the candy Skittles?

Skittle or Skittles?

It's a brand name, right?  

The opposite direction is easier.  "I'll have two Coors, please."

What is the singular of Pringles?  M & Ms?

i'd go with the former, but only when using a color ?adjective? (i'm not so good on my parts of grammar) - like: a red skittle. if you were to say gimme a random skittle or just one skittle, does that still work? probably. but give me one skittle doesn't, that would have to be give me one of those skittles.

I'd go with Skittle.

Dog food bits are called kibbles so close enough, right?

Source: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000943.html

The way the trademark holders would like you to address this is to say:

several Skittles candies / one Skittles candy

several McGriddles sandwiches / one McGriddles sandwich

several Snickers bars / one Snickers bar

several Whopper Jr. cheeseburgers / one Whopper Jr. cheeseburger

The trademark is an adjective of the item in question (candy, sandwich, candy bar, cheeseburger)

In the case of the last example, I would ignore their wishes, though, and say: several Whoppers Jr. because in that case, proper grammar is just too much fun.

The logic can be used that because the product can be reduced to a reasonably clear singular unit, I'd say removing the 's' is appropriate.  This is why we can have extra peanuts, but not extra peanut butters.

W, and why can't we say, "I'd like to try a a single skittle, please." ?

Teacher:  How many red skittles were in your bag Tommy?

Tommy: "There was only one."

Teacher:  "One what?  Remember Tommy, we always reference the unit in the answer."

We could just use the word "smurf."  

The singular of skittles is..insufficient. :-)

Cramchakle wrote:

Source: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000943.html

 

The way the trademark holders would like you to address this is to say:

several Skittles candies / one Skittles candy

several McGriddles sandwiches / one McGriddles sandwich

several Snickers bars / one Snickers bar

several Whopper Jr. cheeseburgers / one Whopper Jr. cheeseburger

 

The trademark is an adjective of the item in question (candy, sandwich, candy bar, cheeseburger)

In the case of the last example, I would ignore their wishes, though, and say: several Whoppers Jr. because in that case, proper grammar is just too much fun.

Yes.  The Attorneys General love their Whoppers Jr. :)

Lego has a similar issue, in that many pieces should still be singular.  5 Lego or 5 Lego Bricks are the 'correct' ones.  My understanding is that this phrasing is common in the UK, but not in America.

Cramchakle wrote:

Source: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000943.html

Sweet, thanks!

M57 wrote:

W, and why can't we say, "I'd like to try a a single skittle, please." ?

Teacher:  How many red skittles were in your bag Tommy?

Tommy: "There was only one."

Teacher:  "One what?  Remember Tommy, we always reference the unit in the answer."

well for one i don't stutter , for another i was just rambling first thing in the morning trying to get my brain working!

and Tommy's answer would be: "There was only one red skittle"; still inline with my rambling statement.

ps. brain still isn't working.

AttilaTheHun wrote:

We could just use the word "smurf."  

Lol! Smurf trademark holding word Smurfs! Now let's smurf some smurf!

Singular of Skittles is Skeet.

I'm pretty sure I got one of thems with a shotgun last week.

One of my minor pet peeves (somewhat related topic) is when people pronounce Reese's Pieces as "Reese Es Pieces." Its possessive people!  

ratsy wrote:

I'm pretty sure I got one of thems with a shotgun last week.

It is more impressive to do it with bow and arrow.

Yes it is possible, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zGnxeSbb3g is an amazing demonstration of how quick archery actually was historically.  (Watch to the end to see skeet shooting with bow and arrow.)

Wicked.

wow.