Maths is

[Joel S. Berson]

At 9/3/2012 10:57 AM, Arnold Zwicky wrote:
>On Sep 3, 2012, at 6:52 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
> >
> >
> > At 9/2/2012 08:44 PM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
> >> Well, the British/Australian abbreviation is "maths", so you can draw
> >> your own conclusions.
> >>
> >>    VS-)
> >
> > My conclusion is that they would say "Maths is my hardest
> > course."
>
>each case is different.  usage for "mathematics"/"maths" varies, but
>"X is my favorite course" is beside the point, since course names
>are treated as singular for the purposes of agreement, even when
>they are clearly plural in form: "Differential Equations is my
>favorite course", "Languages of the World is my favorite course".

Suppose I'd written "Maths is the one science I find hardest to
understand."?  I would certainly say "Physics *is* the one science I
find hardest to understand."  Although "Physics are hard to digest."

In any case, I was being slightly facetious in responding to Victor's question.

Joel


>arnold
>
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