4 ms·

Is anyone else irked whenever someone uses "data" as a plural? It's an uncountable singular for chrissake!

by anon4 12y ago

chrisamiller 12y ago
Do you have evidence? If so, I'd like to see those data.
- keithpeter 12y ago
  http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/data http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/data Languages change slowly over time. I find myself using plural data when I'm talking science and singular data when I'm talking about hard drives. Hadn't noticed until your post! Strange isn't it?
  - bbgm 12y ago
    I have always used the plural data when talking about scientific data. Years of writing papers pretty much drilled that into my fingers.
cwyers 12y ago
Historically, data is the plural of datum.
michaelhoffman 12y ago
Honestly, I am only irked when people insist that data must be used as a singular or that it must be used as a plural. You'll find it listed both ways in good dictionaries: > Both constructions are standard. The plural construction is more common in print, evidently because the house style of several publishers mandates it. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/data http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/data
- dalke 12y ago
  The commentary is a subset of what's in the wonderful M-W "Concise Dictionary of English Usage." The entry for "data, datum" starts "The word data is a queer fish." The most complete online version of it that Google knows about is at http://www-old.accademiadellacrusca.it/forum/htdocs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php%3Ft=328&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30.html http://www-old.accademiadellacrusca.it/forum/htdocs/phpBB2/v... . Some key points and quotes: - data isn't an ordinary plural. "Ordinary plurals ... can be modified by cardinal numbers; ... no one, it seems, can tell you how many data." - "To summarize, data has never been the plural of a count noun in English. It is used in two constructions - plural, with plural apparatus, and singular, as a mass noun, with singular apparatus. Both constructions are fully standard at any level of formality. The plural construction is more common. If you are an editor for a publisher whose house style insists on the plural construction only, take care to be consistent ..." - "There have been more occurrences of datum in popular sources since [about the middle 1960s]. Perhaps the insistence of many editors that data is a plural has accelerated the tendency for datum to be used as a singular of data"
collyw 12y ago
I shall make a point in using it wrongly just to irk pedantic grammar nazi's like yourself.

Is anyone else irked whenever someone uses "data" as a plural? It's an uncountable singular for chrissake!

by anon4 12y ago

Is anyone else irked whenever someone uses "data" as a plural? It's an uncountable singular for chrissake!

chrisamiller 12y ago

Do you have evidence? If so, I'd like to see those data.

keithpeter 12y ago
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/data http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/data Languages change slowly over time. I find myself using plural data when I'm talking science and singular data when I'm talking about hard drives. Hadn't noticed until your post! Strange isn't it?
- bbgm 12y ago
  I have always used the plural data when talking about scientific data. Years of writing papers pretty much drilled that into my fingers.

cwyers 12y ago

Historically, data is the plural of datum.

michaelhoffman 12y ago

Honestly, I am only irked when people insist that data must be used as a singular or that it must be used as a plural. You'll find it listed both ways in good dictionaries: > Both constructions are standard. The plural construction is more common in print, evidently because the house style of several publishers mandates it. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/data http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/data

dalke 12y ago
The commentary is a subset of what's in the wonderful M-W "Concise Dictionary of English Usage." The entry for "data, datum" starts "The word data is a queer fish." The most complete online version of it that Google knows about is at http://www-old.accademiadellacrusca.it/forum/htdocs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php%3Ft=328&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30.html http://www-old.accademiadellacrusca.it/forum/htdocs/phpBB2/v... . Some key points and quotes: - data isn't an ordinary plural. "Ordinary plurals ... can be modified by cardinal numbers; ... no one, it seems, can tell you how many data." - "To summarize, data has never been the plural of a count noun in English. It is used in two constructions - plural, with plural apparatus, and singular, as a mass noun, with singular apparatus. Both constructions are fully standard at any level of formality. The plural construction is more common. If you are an editor for a publisher whose house style insists on the plural construction only, take care to be consistent ..." - "There have been more occurrences of datum in popular sources since [about the middle 1960s]. Perhaps the insistence of many editors that data is a plural has accelerated the tendency for datum to be used as a singular of data"

collyw 12y ago

I shall make a point in using it wrongly just to irk pedantic grammar nazi's like yourself.