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Subject:Re: Singular Data From:Daniel Wise <dewise -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM> Date:Sat, 31 May 1997 01:00:32 -0500
Colleagues,
Tweren't always so. When I started in the business 40 years ago data was
indeed a latin plural of datum. It always called for a plural verb. Then the
engineers got ahold of it. Within 10-15 years it was a bastardized group
singular. Today it has been legitimated as a group singular. As we say so
often, English is a dynamic language.
Today we tilt at the windmills of if and whether becoming synonyms and other
weighty matters.
Who know what tomorrow will bring?
Dan Wise
dewise -at- ix -dot- netcom -dot- com
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