[Ads-l] "information" as a plural
Laurence Horn
laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Wed Sep 29 15:07:16 UTC 2021
> 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
So “whirlwind” here is essentially doing the job of “number” or “lot".
>
> 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
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