[Ads-l] "information" as a plural

[Laurence Horn]

“Datum” is still holding on in some circles, but it’s fighting a losing battle on the other front with “data point”, which is another way to get to the necessary count noun.  I hear “dayda” as in “beta”, “dadda” as in “whatsamatta”, and sometimes “dahda” as in “a lotta” (the last not restricted to former Latin scholars).   On the original…um, data point, I go with Jon—agreement with the nearest (“allies” or “his team and …”), not with" information”.  

LH


> On Sep 23, 2021, at 4:26 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
>> "datum" recedes into obscurity...
> Together with the pronunciation of "data" as "dayda."
> Well, it's been a long time coming. I recall my mother laughing about
> the pronunciation, "dadda," back during WWII.
> 
> 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.
>> 
>> 
>> On Thu, Sep 23, 2021 at 10:05 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> Trendily agrees with "allies," the nearest preceding noun. "Team and"
>>> doesn't hurt either.
>>> 
>>> JL
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Thu, Sep 23, 2021 at 12:45 PM Stanton McCandlish <
>> smccandlish at gmail.com
>>>> 
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> From today's *WashPost*: "We’ve learned the extent to which Trump’s
>>>> insistences about the election having been stolen were predicated on
>>>> information that his team and his allies knew were unfounded."
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>> https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/09/22/somehow-were-still-learning-depths-trumps-dishonesty/
>>>> 
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>>>> 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."
>>> 
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>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>> 
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> - Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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