[Ads-l] "United States" as Singular

[Dan Goncharoff]

Isn't there a difference between British English and American English in
the treatment of collective entities? Eg, corporations are singular in the
US, but plural in the UK. Is this a related phenomenon?

On Fri, Oct 4, 2024, 8:54 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

> There has been much discussion for over a century of when the term "United
> States" became singular rather than plural.  I can't speak knowledgably
> about when overall usage shifted, but I can perhaps contribute what may be
> the earliest known example of singularization:
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> 1781 Alexander Spotswood Letter to Virginia Delegates 19 Aug. (Founders
> Online)
>
> By the inclosed certificate you will observe, that the united states is
> indebted to Mr. Edward Simpson.
>
> Fred Shapiro
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org