[Ads-l] "information" as a plural

[Jonathan Lighter]

How's this for a twofer?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/?.tsrc=mtk

"31 Lies About the Wild West People Believe Is True"

Lie = 'misconception.'

"Wild West," of course, is the focus of interest.

JL

On Sun, Oct 3, 2021 at 2:41 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> My freshmen were already using invariant "there's" almost invariably when
> I started teaching in 1976.
>
> But not equivalent "there are," which seems (at least) totally novel.
>
> JL
>
> On Sun, Oct 3, 2021 at 12:21 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
>
>> > On Oct 3, 2021, at 11:48 AM, Stanton McCandlish <smccandlish at GMAIL.COM>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > Weird. That one's kind of the opposite of the common trend, to turn
>> "there
>> > are" into "there's" even before clearly plural constructions ("There's
>> 13
>> > geese on my lawn.”)
>>
>> Right, but that’s invariant “there’s”, not to be conflated with singular
>> “there is”:
>>
>> There’s 13 geese on the lawn, aren’t there?/*isn’t there?
>>
>> I think this use of invariant “there’s” regardless of number of the
>> “pivot” noun has been around for some time—not sure how long.
>> >
>> >
>> > On Fri, Oct 1, 2021 at 7:05 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Just heard on the radio that “there are a chance of showers Monday
>> >> night”.  Unlike “a whirlwind of”, this can’t even be read as a
>> quantifier.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>> On Sep 29, 2021, at 7:05 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
>> >
>> >> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> Chloe Melas, entertainment reporter, CNN, just now:
>> >>>
>> >>> "There have been a whirlwind of petitions filed since."
>> >>>
>> >>> I wonder alternatively if people are hypercorrecting the dreaded
>> "There
>> >> is."
>> >>>
>> >>> However, "petitions," not whirlwind, is salient.
>> >>>
>> >>> JL
>> >>>
>> >>> On Sat, Sep 25, 2021 at 4:41 PM Jonathan Lighter <
>> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
>> >>>
>> >>> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>>> Quorum.com:
>> >>>>
>> >>>> "There are scarring on my lungs."
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Plural "lungs" is the noun that gets the most emphasis, vocally and
>> >>>> topically.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Though Swedish, the writer is fluent in English. He also writes,
>> "while
>> >>>> factors like age, obesity, and preexisting conditions do affect those
>> >>>> chances of death or complications, your 'strong immune system' is
>> >> actually
>> >>>> not a factor of getting infected."  (OK, so he uses "of" instead of
>> >> "in.")
>> >>>>
>> >>>> JL
>> >>>>
>> >>>> On Fri, Sep 24, 2021 at 5:08 PM Mark Mandel <markamandel at gmail.com>
>> >> wrote:
>> >>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>> I'm familiar with "the data is", which certainly isn't plural, but
>> I'm
>> >>>>> pretty sure I haven't encountered a plural "datas". So I think the
>> >>>>> singular
>> >>>>> "data" is really a mass noun, like "information" (in traditional
>> >> usage),
>> >>>>> "evidence", "music", "money", "progress", and many others.
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> Mark Mandel
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> On Thu, Sep 23, 2021 at 1:13 PM Stanton McCandlish <
>> >> smccandlish at gmail.com
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>> wrote:
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> Yes, I can see how the error happened, but it's still an error.
>> >>>>>> Unless we're seeing an actual shift.  It wouldn't be the first time
>> >>>>> there's
>> >>>>>> been one in this sort of term.  E.g. "data", a plural, has become
>> >>>>>> frequently used in the singular, while "datum" recedes into
>> obscurity.
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> >>>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> --
>> >>>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>> >> truth."
>> >>>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> --
>> >>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>> >> truth."
>> >>>
>> >>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> >>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> >>
>> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> >>
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org