It was with great interest that I read Baker & Williams’ persuasive account outlining the correct use of the term ‘fasciculation’.¹ The plural ‘fasciculations’, they argue, has erroneously slipped into the medical vernacular since Denny-Brown and Pennybacker coined the singular term in 1938.² Fasciculation, they emphasise, represents a ‘state of being’ and therefore is a binary entity; fasciculation is either present or it is not. On reading this fascinating etymological tour, I felt compelled to present a counter-argument. I propose that the oft-used plural form represents much more than mere solecism.

There are alternative ‘…-ation’ words where the plural form is not only acceptable, …