Another one bites the dust?

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

I've often heard "a phenomena" and "a criteria,"  and last night on the news someone spoke of "a paparazzi." We deal here with a tendency (not a law, though, of course) to shift the plural to the singular. I've noticed many more examples over the years, but they don't come to mind at the moment.  Maybe it's time to compile them.

Gerald Cohen

> ----------
> From:         American Dialect Society on behalf of Benjamin Barrett
> Reply To:     American Dialect Society
> Sent:         Wednesday, September 5, 2007 11:36 PM
> To:   ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject:           Re: Another one bites the dust?
>
> My chiropractor says that as well. My real estate agent says "an
> addenda". I know that my real estate agent knows the difference; surely
> my chiropractor does as well. BB
>
> Wilson Gray wrote:
> > Heard on CSI:
> >
> > [Holding up a bone]: "Looks like a human _vertebrae_."
> >
>
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