Re: Data a collective noun?

[Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- AXIONET -dot- COM>]

Heidi Martin <hmartin -at- MICRON -dot- COM> wrote:

>Data should be used as a plural, and sounds just fine as a plural [snip....]
>I cannot think of any reason for us, as writers, to incorrectly use the term >data as a singular noun.

This is one of the areas in which the language is evolving. I admit that
I find the use of "data" as a singular noun grating, but I can't do
anything
about it, any more than I can stop the loss of "criterion" or the use of
"obsess" as a verb.

Naturally, precision of language is important, but so is speaking the
language of your users. If you drift too far away from modern usage, the
medium (there's another lost singular for you) overwhelms the message.

The trick, I suppose, is to find the right balance. I value precision in
my professional work, but, at a certain point - usually when you see a
term
used routinely in newspapers and magazines, or on TV - a given usage
becomes established, and simply has to be accepted. I can't say that I'm
especially
happy about some of the ways that modern English is evolving, but, past
a
certain point, I can't do very much about it.

--
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
Co-ordinator ,Vancouver Technical Communicators' Co-op List
Vancouver, BC, Canada
(604) 421-7189 or 687-2133
bbyfield -at- axionet,com or bruce -at- dataphile-ca -dot- com
www.outlawcommunications.com

"I know these dark and winding streets
They're coiled around my heart,
Where time and inclination meet
And all our stories start."

- Oyster Band, "No reason to Cry"