The Toronto Maple Leafs

It is called "The Toronto Maple Leafs", not Leaves, because in the war, there was an elite group of Canadian soldiers called the "Leafs" not leaves, for some odd reason. Thus, the team name is based on the elite soldiers, not the leaves themselves.

It's technically wrong and they know it.

But it's pronounced "Maple Leafs" so they pull it off.

I agree with David. You don't pluralize a proper noun if it changes the name. The last name Leaf is a perfect example. Bob may also be correct, because the rule would have applied to the soldiers as well.

That is utter stupidity. They were around before the war, unless you mean the American Revolution. Maybe WWI, they were founded during that , but that wouldn't make sense either as there would have been no significance

Just to respond to David, shouldn't Minnesota Timberwolves then be called the Minnesota Timberwolfs?

I do not know where you guys get your information from.
Everyone knows there is no such thing as "Canadien Soldiers".

Hey, our Canadian soldiers kicked ass in WW1! Suck it!

you sign your name "Leafs Blow", but what do you really know? too cowardly to use your name? DO YOU EVEN WATCH THE GAME? now wait , I think I see, you're an american wanna be. The Leafs will be back, and they'll tighten the slack. An our soldiers have names John, Patricck or Rick. And you ,"sir", are a little.............

aahhh if only we Americans could get away with patriotism like you Canadians without being pelted with accusations of cultural imperialism....

"wanna be" usually refers to some one who is not. therefor comment would not be directed to an american. Back on topic . No matter why I like the spelling "LEAFS" glad they chose it for what ever reason!

George, by "American wanna be" I think Myrna is referring to Americans that wish they were Canadians, not explicitly stated, but implied by the context.

wanna be "want-to-be" . someome that is not but wants-to-be an American. so not meant to be a put down to our American counterparts. Now can we "leaves" this topic and get back to the LEAFS ???

gee, I'm confused, myrna. Clearly your poem is defending Canada. The mapleleafs are a Canadian team. Leafsblow is clearly attacking both the mapleleafs, Canadians, and the Canadian military. While Canada is certainly in North America, Canadians rarely refer to themselves as Americans, at least, as far as I know.
Now, I guess Leafsblow doesn't claim to be American, per se, but why would he want to be American? That doesn't even make sense. Thinking of him as someone who wants to be Canadian, THAT makes sense. It means your poem is labelling him as one who is secretly envious of the very Canadians he is slamming, you know, sour grapes and all.

porsche, porsche, porsche. I truely wish I would have left that line out!!! Read it again, my dear. What I thought would be clear is that I am saying, he is a Canadian, you know the kind that looks south of the border for "everything that is good". Have you never known a Canadian to put down our army because it is not as huge as out neighbours to the south. The Canadian that looks at our army and compares it to the U.S.A. (and lets face it we are small compaired to our neighbours) and says "we don't have an army" Those are to me Canadians that are envious of Americans, AND WISH THEY WERE AMERICANS instead of Canadians. There are soooo many great things about both countries that anyone that is a citizen of either should be glad and proud. At least that is my opinion!

AAHHH, I see. Thanks for clearing that up. That does make more sense.

Nobody wants to be a Canadian....
That is laughable.

USA

gay potheads do.

So where are you from myrna?

as a european i can confirm some people do actually wish they were canadian, im one of them!

Most Europeans would rather spend time with Canadians than Americans. You have to wear a maple leaf so that people don't give you the cold shoulder down the pub on account of the accent.

Michael Cain quite true, whilst I like both Americans and Canadians (Canadians being nicer, as they are less likely to kill you). Americans have taken to wearing maple leafs to avoid trouble, (with people who can not distinguish between a government and its people,) largely because the accents sound quite similar.

Anyway why are people on this board slagging each other off.

John, your explanation really piqued my interest at first, but being an English geek, I have to call you out on this. "Maple Leafs," is in NO WAY an exocentric compound.

Maybe what Bob said is correct...

Why not? The meaning of "Maple Leafs" cannot be transparently guessed from its component parts. That's what an exocentric compound is.

just a side note...
who would want to be american?

It's "Maple Leafs." Period. End of discussion.*

As for:

"Everyone knows there is no such thing as 'Canadien Soldiers'."

I suggest you visit this site for an education, mon ami:

www.r22er.com

* Now if they could just start actually winning a few games...

Since September 28, 2005 at 2:22 pm this thread has been fiercely debated and now I have come to finish it after all! I shall use the most state of the art technology to solve this fiasco... WIKIPEDIA I SUMMON YOU!

"After taking control on Valentine's Day 1927, Conn Smythe immediately renamed the team the Maple Leafs (the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team had won the International League championship a few months earlier and had been using that name for 30 years). The Maple Leafs say that the name was chosen in honor of the Maple Leaf Regiment from World War I. As the regiment is a proper noun, its plural is formed by adding a simple 's' creating Maple Leafs (not *Maple Leaves). Another story says that Smythe named the team after a team he had once scouted, called the East Toronto Maple Leafs, while Smythe's grandson states that Conn named the team after the Maple Leaf insignia he had worn during the First World War."

So I am American, and I love Canada -- I hope that doesn't freak you out. I also have love for my country. I understand when it comes to sports (hockey in particular) there is a Canada vs USA rivalry... but when it comes to every other aspect of life, what's the big deal? I went skiing in Mont Tremblant, and those French speaking 'people' were complete pricks... Why? I've noticed lots of Canadians hate Americans. They make it a point to let that be known. The hatred isn't quite there from us to you (most Americans need to be reminded that Canada exists... An inferiority complex?)

We have to deal with enough crap from people living throughout different parts of our own country. Democrats vs Republicans (dear God!), East Coast vs West Coast, noted in the retarded rapper wars... The American Civil War was between the North vs the South - on the East Coast alone! "Yankee?" Southerners still call Northerners Yankees, so if you call an American a Yankee, you're only referring to people living the Northeast section of the country. In fact, Northerners don't even call themselves Yankees anymore, only Southerners do. Then there's New England vs NYC/Philly/DC megalopolis vs Midwest vs South vs Southwest vs NorCal vs SoCal vs etc...

I love Tim Hortons, maple whiskey and maple donuts, and ice hockey. Thanks for all those! I hate Gary Bettman, just like I'm sure you do. You're welcome for air planes, Hollywood movies, and bringing pretzels to North America (the PA Dutch in me).

All that being said, I'm wearing my Maple Leafs jersey right now, and was just looking up why it is Leafs and not Leaves, because I always liked it "Leafs"... thank you for the information, and sorry for the diatribe (if you took it that way).

I'm an American who is in love with a Canadian woman. She is married and so am I. I wish she would leave her husband for me.

i don't care the reason, proper names or some bunch of soldiers who made the mistake of pluralizing the word incorrectly. it still pisses me off! i hope the deers all attack you and you die like sheeps at the slaughter! ;-)

mattC,

It's "deer" and "sheep."

Jon4: your comment makes so much sense and completely explains this grammatical phenomenon! Low lifes! Maple leafs! You're right! We do not make it into low lives. I can totally live with the name of this hockey team now without it being a permanent itch on my brain! Thank you!