4 ms·

"the layoffs is taking place" i'm no English expert, but I can't take seriously an article with grammar errors :/

by mparnisari 4y ago

vyskocilm 4y ago
All your layoffs are belong to us.
emodendroket 4y ago
A single editing mistake makes the whole article beneath notice?
chimeracoder 4y ago
> "the layoffs is taking place" > i'm no English expert, but I can't take seriously an article with grammar errors :/ It's arguably a regional/dialect distinction. Here "layoffs" is being treated as a collective noun, similar to how people say "the data is" instead of "the data are". Notice how people usually say "layoffs" when referring to the entire round. English has less dialectal variation than most languages, so English speakers (particularly educated British or American speakers) aren't used to seeing it, but collectivization of nouns is one of the more common ones to spot. If you pay attention, you'll start seeing other examples here and there.
- glibby 4y ago
  I believe the rule of using "are" when following a noun that ends with "s" still applies though. eg. "the vertices are" but "the collective is". I can't think of a collective noun that ends in S that I would follow with "is".
  - chimeracoder 4y ago
    > I believe the rule of using "are" when following a noun that ends with "s" still applies though Rules are dialect-dependent, though (or a better way to frame it: "rules" are observations about clusters which are used to define a dialect). > I can't think of a collective noun that ends in S that I would follow with "is". Sure, in the forms of American and British English that most HN readers are used to, there may not be any. That isn't universal, though. There's a related phenomenon which may be more familiar to you: some English speakers will use a possessive form even when no possessive is being conveyed semantically, eg: "I'm going to Burger King's", or "Wal-Mart's is a good store". This particular one is fairly well-documented.
    - dahfizz 4y ago
      > some English speakers will use a possessive form even when no possessive is being conveyed semantically, eg: "I'm going to Burger King's", or "Wal-Mart's is a good store". I might type "walmart's a good store" in an informal setting (not as a possessive, but as a contraction for "walmart is"), but no American / British newspaper editor would let that through. Its against the rules of english grammar. I'm curious whether kids in Indian primary school are taught that "the layoffs is" is correct grammar, or whether its just a common mistake (like walmart's).
    - twelve40 4y ago
      > "I'm going to Burger King's" pretty sure this is also incorrect and something to be avoided in print, no? "data" vs "datum" is pretty obscure. While an outfit like the New York Times may know the difference, I doubt that most people even know that "data" is always plural, since its forms are not even coming from English.
- metalliqaz 4y ago
  "in hospital"
- moosedev 4y ago
  Without commenting on the correctness of the English in the article, which I didn't finish reading: when I moved to the US as a Brit, I was amused by many commercials' use of "a savings" to describe the effect of a sale or discount (e.g. "a 20% Savings!") In this case, the collective noun "savings" is used with the singular article "a". This one shows up in both spoken and written American English. Obviously, I can point intellectually to how and why it's correct, but it still sounds somehow weird and a bit folksy to this immigrant :)
CydeWeys 4y ago
It's an Indian newspaper. Indian English is just about as different from American English as it's possible to get.
- chimeracoder 4y ago
  > Indian English is just about as different from American English as it's possible to get. Hardly. Indian English is not even very different from some dialects of British English (just not the one British dialect that most non-Brits are used to). Even many of the features that people commonly associate with Indian English are actually taken from British English and still present in present-day British dialects (again, just not the one that most non-Brits are familiar with). There are other dialects of English that are far more different from Standard American English, to the point where an American speaker will have trouble understanding them altogether, as opposed to being able to understand the meaning correctly albeit with noticeable distinctions. But you're right that there's a good chance that this is a dialect difference.
  - CydeWeys 4y ago
    Indian English has lots of loanwords from Indian languages in it. That's the biggest difference I'm referring to. Try reading any Indian finance news without knowing what lakh, crore, and lakh crore mean, for example.
- dahfizz 4y ago
  That's interesting. Are they taught in Indian primary school that "the layoffs is" is correct?
  - cscurmudgeon 4y ago
    No. Even in Indian English, this is not correct.
- scottyah 4y ago
  How does it compare to Scottish English or Jamaican Patois? Those seem like a different language to me
eCa 4y ago
> i’m The issue with critizising someones grammer are that it always slips in an error or two.
- ChicagoBoy11 4y ago
  I see what you did there. Well played.
- onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
  I will never understand why some people are so quick to dismiss everything because they spot a grammar mistake. Nothing is perfect. Get over it.
  - infamouscow 4y ago
    Stupidity.* It takes far less energy to dismiss something for a cosmetic, surface level error, than to engage in the merits of the discussion. *: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww47bR86wSc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww47bR86wSc
  - skeeter2020 4y ago
    The human mind is engineered to be lazy though; we're hard-wired to look for short cuts and proof reading === quality isn't a terrible one. Why do you think we still have resumes, or equate a university degree with ability to program computers?
    - onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
      > Why do you think we still have resumes As opposed to what? People just showing up to interviews unannounced? > or equate a university degree with ability to program computers? Most of the really successful tech companies are doing this to a small degree. You're at a pretty big advantage if you try to get an early internship at FAANG if you went to Harvard or Stanford or whatnot - and you probably should be (and this is coming from someone who believes strongly those universities are mostly a waste). The unis already did the hard work of sifting through students to find ones who are willing to work 100x more than necessary just to get into a slightly better school. If you're FAANG, that's sort of who you want to hire for a tech internship, and eventually take advantage of with an underpaying salary for namebrand recognition upon graduation.
tdiggity 4y ago
it is very human.

"the layoffs is taking place" i'm no English expert, but I can't take seriously an article with grammar errors :/

vyskocilm 4y ago

All your layoffs are belong to us.

emodendroket 4y ago

A single editing mistake makes the whole article beneath notice?

chimeracoder 4y ago

> "the layoffs is taking place" > i'm no English expert, but I can't take seriously an article with grammar errors :/ It's arguably a regional/dialect distinction. Here "layoffs" is being treated as a collective noun, similar to how people say "the data is" instead of "the data are". Notice how people usually say "layoffs" when referring to the entire round. English has less dialectal variation than most languages, so English speakers (particularly educated British or American speakers) aren't used to seeing it, but collectivization of nouns is one of the more common ones to spot. If you pay attention, you'll start seeing other examples here and there.

glibby 4y ago
I believe the rule of using "are" when following a noun that ends with "s" still applies though. eg. "the vertices are" but "the collective is". I can't think of a collective noun that ends in S that I would follow with "is".
- chimeracoder 4y ago
  > I believe the rule of using "are" when following a noun that ends with "s" still applies though Rules are dialect-dependent, though (or a better way to frame it: "rules" are observations about clusters which are used to define a dialect). > I can't think of a collective noun that ends in S that I would follow with "is". Sure, in the forms of American and British English that most HN readers are used to, there may not be any. That isn't universal, though. There's a related phenomenon which may be more familiar to you: some English speakers will use a possessive form even when no possessive is being conveyed semantically, eg: "I'm going to Burger King's", or "Wal-Mart's is a good store". This particular one is fairly well-documented.
  - dahfizz 4y ago
    > some English speakers will use a possessive form even when no possessive is being conveyed semantically, eg: "I'm going to Burger King's", or "Wal-Mart's is a good store". I might type "walmart's a good store" in an informal setting (not as a possessive, but as a contraction for "walmart is"), but no American / British newspaper editor would let that through. Its against the rules of english grammar. I'm curious whether kids in Indian primary school are taught that "the layoffs is" is correct grammar, or whether its just a common mistake (like walmart's).
  - twelve40 4y ago
    > "I'm going to Burger King's" pretty sure this is also incorrect and something to be avoided in print, no? "data" vs "datum" is pretty obscure. While an outfit like the New York Times may know the difference, I doubt that most people even know that "data" is always plural, since its forms are not even coming from English.
metalliqaz 4y ago
"in hospital"
moosedev 4y ago
Without commenting on the correctness of the English in the article, which I didn't finish reading: when I moved to the US as a Brit, I was amused by many commercials' use of "a savings" to describe the effect of a sale or discount (e.g. "a 20% Savings!") In this case, the collective noun "savings" is used with the singular article "a". This one shows up in both spoken and written American English. Obviously, I can point intellectually to how and why it's correct, but it still sounds somehow weird and a bit folksy to this immigrant :)

CydeWeys 4y ago

It's an Indian newspaper. Indian English is just about as different from American English as it's possible to get.

chimeracoder 4y ago
> Indian English is just about as different from American English as it's possible to get. Hardly. Indian English is not even very different from some dialects of British English (just not the one British dialect that most non-Brits are used to). Even many of the features that people commonly associate with Indian English are actually taken from British English and still present in present-day British dialects (again, just not the one that most non-Brits are familiar with). There are other dialects of English that are far more different from Standard American English, to the point where an American speaker will have trouble understanding them altogether, as opposed to being able to understand the meaning correctly albeit with noticeable distinctions. But you're right that there's a good chance that this is a dialect difference.
- CydeWeys 4y ago
  Indian English has lots of loanwords from Indian languages in it. That's the biggest difference I'm referring to. Try reading any Indian finance news without knowing what lakh, crore, and lakh crore mean, for example.
dahfizz 4y ago
That's interesting. Are they taught in Indian primary school that "the layoffs is" is correct?
- cscurmudgeon 4y ago
  No. Even in Indian English, this is not correct.
scottyah 4y ago
How does it compare to Scottish English or Jamaican Patois? Those seem like a different language to me

eCa 4y ago

> i’m The issue with critizising someones grammer are that it always slips in an error or two.

ChicagoBoy11 4y ago
I see what you did there. Well played.
onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
I will never understand why some people are so quick to dismiss everything because they spot a grammar mistake. Nothing is perfect. Get over it.
- infamouscow 4y ago
  Stupidity.* It takes far less energy to dismiss something for a cosmetic, surface level error, than to engage in the merits of the discussion. *: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww47bR86wSc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww47bR86wSc
- skeeter2020 4y ago
  The human mind is engineered to be lazy though; we're hard-wired to look for short cuts and proof reading === quality isn't a terrible one. Why do you think we still have resumes, or equate a university degree with ability to program computers?
  - onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
    > Why do you think we still have resumes As opposed to what? People just showing up to interviews unannounced? > or equate a university degree with ability to program computers? Most of the really successful tech companies are doing this to a small degree. You're at a pretty big advantage if you try to get an early internship at FAANG if you went to Harvard or Stanford or whatnot - and you probably should be (and this is coming from someone who believes strongly those universities are mostly a waste). The unis already did the hard work of sifting through students to find ones who are willing to work 100x more than necessary just to get into a slightly better school. If you're FAANG, that's sort of who you want to hire for a tech internship, and eventually take advantage of with an underpaying salary for namebrand recognition upon graduation.

tdiggity 4y ago

it is very human.