Another one for my list of annoying words: troops, to mean several soldiers, which is also what troop means. An individual soldier is a trooper, not a troop. So shouldn’t it be trooper is singular, and troopers is plural; or, if troops has to mean plural, then troop should be singular, not plural too!
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Stephan Kinsella is a libertarian writer and retired patent attorney in Houston, Texas. He has published widely on various areas of libertarian legal theory and on legal topics such as intellectual property law and international law. His publications include Legal Foundations of a Free Society (Papinian Press, 2023), Against Intellectual Property (Mises Institute, 2008), International Investment, Political Risk, and Dispute Resolution: A Practitioner’s Guide (Oxford, 2020), and The Universal Principles of Liberty (2025).
My Failed Libertarian Speaking Hiatus; Memories of Mises Institute and Other Events, 1988–20192025
Trooper <- One soldier
Troopers <- More than one soldier
Troop <- One group of soldiers
Troops <- More than one group of soldiers