On 02/18/2011 01:11 PM, C.M. Connelly wrote:
"JSDY" == Joseph S D Yao<[email protected]>JSDY> But, Claire ... the word "data" _IS_ plural. It's the JSDY> plural of datum. Which is the singular of data. ;-) JSDY> American English and British English have a number of JSDY> disagreements about how a collective noun is used, in JSDY> terms of number. The word "data" actually originated as JSDY> a plural, as above; but is often used as a collective JSDY> noun these days with dashing disregard for its history. I think ``history'' is the key. The meaning (and spelling!) of words change (sometimes dramatically) over time, and, in much the same way that ``acknowledgement'' is now in the dictionary as a valid spelling of ``acknowledgment'', data is becoming widely accepted a valid collective noun. See the usage comments on data in a recent dictionary (e.g., _Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary_, 11th edition, m-w.com, or the New Oxford American Dictionary on a Mac). Or, for more fun, see the list of ``significant rule changes'' in the sixteenth edition of the _Chicago Manual of Style_ [0]. As a writer and speaker, you have to figure out which changes you're okay with, and then change how you write and speak to go with the cultural flow, and which changes you just don't like, and curmudgeonly hang on to the old way of doing those things. If you have to follow some particular set of rules, perhaps because your employer or publisher mandates that you do so, you don't have to worry about choosing yourself, but the choices made for you may, of course, chafe. Claire
On a slight tangent to this, I was surprised to read the other week about the extremes of passion between various parties over the use of double spaces after periods. I use it instinctively as that was how I was always taught to type. Full Stop, double space, captialise the first letter and away you go. My wife is currently studying for a masters and had her teacher complain that she didn't start concluding paragraph with "In conclusion", something she's been vehemently taught since 5th grade /not/ to do.
Different strokes for different folks, and damned if you'll ever get anything approaching a consensus!
Paul
_______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] https://lists.lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators http://lopsa.org/
