On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 03:11:02PM -0800, 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.
And having learned my language at a much earlier date, my sense of proriety maay differ. > 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]. With many of which I have problems. > 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. And with such an itch! -- /*********************************************************************\ ** ** Joe Yao [email protected] - Joseph S. D. Yao ** \*********************************************************************/ _______________________________________________ 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/
