Singular or plural?

[Scot LaFaive]

Technically, they were right to use the plural "were" since "barracks" is
the plural of "barrack," though I don't know who uses "barrack" these days.

Scot

On Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 2:14 PM, Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at bellsouth.net>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at BELLSOUTH.NET>
> Subject:      Singular or plural?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> In a story reporting the location of prior chief executives at times of =
> national crisis (occasioned by the recent attempt to bomb a NWA flight), =
> CBS reported, "President Reagan was on vacation when the Marine barracks =
> in Beirut were bombed in 1983".  I would have used "was".  But I don't =
> really know which is appropriate.
>
>
> Bill Palmer
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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