4 ms·

Fora is the correct word, right?

by Vecr 4y ago

Aachen 4y ago
For words like forum and datum, both are possible, but also there's a clearly more commonly used option that doesn't confuse everyone. In Dutch, fora is probably about equally common as forums; in English I'm not sure I've seen it ever used. It's like using datum to mean a single data point: "look at me being clever about word technicalities and making everyone do a double take to understand this sentence". At least, that's how I feel when seeing a native speaker use datum instead of data point in English, or in Dutch using data to mean multiple calendar dates (the common word being datums).
- nwatson 4y ago
  Data should be uncountable, like meat. Datum -> data point.
- eyelidlessness 4y ago
  I don’t know when I internalized that “data” is plural and its singular is “datum”, but it wasn’t when I had a similar reaction to “fora”. The former is just how my brain handles the word’s count, and the latter is very much like your reaction.
nkrisc 4y ago
You are technically correct, the best kind of correct. But in reality correctness in language is dictated by usage. After all, their r hella many formerly “correct” parts of language no1 uses ne more or sth. Otherwise we’d still be speaking proto-Indo European arguing about words that came from whatever language came before that.
BalinKing 4y ago
Personally, I'd go for "forums." (I don't actually think I've ever actually heard "fora," so I'm skeptical that it's even used enough to qualify as a "valid" English word...)
- mcbits 4y ago
  It's definitely valid (e.g. "public fora"), but it could be considered archaic or formal.
svorakang 4y ago
Hah, I fought a battle for months at a Nordic automotive OEM, to try to stop them from overusing "fora", to no avail. They were so convinced that it was the proper word to use, they also used it in singularis, as in "We will bring that up in another fora", often then also referring to a single meeting to be held in the next day. This is only one tale out of many on how corrupted the corporate Scandinavian English can be, and sadly, since being essentially marinated in this parlance, I can probably only detect and reflect of a fraction of the linguistical felonies committed around me, and worse: by myself.
- _dain_ 4y ago
  fora eunt domus
thecosmicfrog 4y ago
Let's just call them "forii" and call it a day.

Fora is the correct word, right?

by Vecr 4y ago

Fora is the correct word, right?

For words like forum and datum, both are possible, but also there's a clearly more commonly used option that doesn't confuse everyone. In Dutch, fora is probably about equally common as forums; in English I'm not sure I've seen it ever used. It's like using datum to mean a single data point: "look at me being clever about word technicalities and making everyone do a double take to understand this sentence". At least, that's how I feel when seeing a native speaker use datum instead of data point in English, or in Dutch using data to mean multiple calendar dates (the common word being datums).

nwatson 4y ago
Data should be uncountable, like meat. Datum -> data point.
eyelidlessness 4y ago
I don’t know when I internalized that “data” is plural and its singular is “datum”, but it wasn’t when I had a similar reaction to “fora”. The former is just how my brain handles the word’s count, and the latter is very much like your reaction.

nkrisc 4y ago

You are technically correct, the best kind of correct. But in reality correctness in language is dictated by usage. After all, their r hella many formerly “correct” parts of language no1 uses ne more or sth. Otherwise we’d still be speaking proto-Indo European arguing about words that came from whatever language came before that.

BalinKing 4y ago

Personally, I'd go for "forums." (I don't actually think I've ever actually heard "fora," so I'm skeptical that it's even used enough to qualify as a "valid" English word...)

mcbits 4y ago
It's definitely valid (e.g. "public fora"), but it could be considered archaic or formal.

svorakang 4y ago

Hah, I fought a battle for months at a Nordic automotive OEM, to try to stop them from overusing "fora", to no avail. They were so convinced that it was the proper word to use, they also used it in singularis, as in "We will bring that up in another fora", often then also referring to a single meeting to be held in the next day. This is only one tale out of many on how corrupted the corporate Scandinavian English can be, and sadly, since being essentially marinated in this parlance, I can probably only detect and reflect of a fraction of the linguistical felonies committed around me, and worse: by myself.

_dain_ 4y ago
fora eunt domus

thecosmicfrog 4y ago

Let's just call them "forii" and call it a day.