James Lipton, William Shakespeare Figure Out Plural Form of ‘Prius’

By Bob Marshall 

Ah yes, the plural form of Prius. What if you or your environmentally conscious friend owns two Toyota Prius…es, and you want to tell someone quickly without making the sentence compound? The word is truly a fickle mistress, and as Inside the Actor’s Studio host James Lipton argues, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Too true, old boy. Too true.

Luckily, Lipton can call on his buddy William Shakespeare in this first episode of Saatchi and Saatchi’s online web series for Toyota, Wordliness. Billy Shakes sure does know his way around a noun (and the women who use them), and using the Latin phrase Carpe Diem, he concludes that when referring to more than one Prius, we should say “Prium.”

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Not to quarrel with one of the greatest English writers the world has even known (right up there with James Joyce and Dr. Seuss), but “Prium” does seem a bit unwieldy, doesn’t it? Toyota agrees, which is why it’s asking you, the consumer/word wrangler you are, to cast your vote for the plural form of Prius on its Facebook page. Currently, “Prii” is in the lead with 25% of the vote while “Prium” at the back of the pack with a mere 12%. Sorry, Bill.

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