HBP spoiler(ish): Hor-thingies: etymology

[Barry Arrowsmith]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, Richard <hp at p...> wrote:
> 
> In Latin, 4th declension plurals end on "us", i.e. the same as the 
> singular, and 4th D. words which have come into English unchanged add "-es" 
> for the plural to distinguish them from the singular. An example which 
> immediately springs to  mind is "census". Who's ever heard of population 
> "censi" as opposed to "censuses"? (BTW, my spell-checker just questioned 
> "censi", but not "censuses". :-)
> 
> To insist that "Patronus" must have a plural of "Patroni" is to make 
> incorrect suppositions based on a fractured knowledge of Latin grammar.
> 
> As the saying goes, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
> 

Possibly.
But it looks neater and contains fewer letters. RSI, you know.

And 'hor' - try something derived from hors de combat, hors d'oeurves or the like.
It means 'out' in this context, doesn't it?