Software application development
This blog is intended to provoke discussion and exchange between like minded software application developers, engineers, architects, project managers - and keen hobbyists too.
Friday 3 April 2009, 9:46 AM
Data is plural
His entry makes interesting reading:
“Data is plural,” says Bryson. “Although this fact is widely disregarded, you should at least be aware that – ‘The data was fed into a computer’ – is incorrect.”
I think it makes an entertaining diversion to consider this for a second and think about the fact that we do often make this mistake, if it indeed is one.
It’s a cloudy area I think. Consider the fact that we talk about foods and we also talk about ‘food’ as a plural.
I suppose it’s like saying that – ‘The food was fed into a human’ – is also wrong. While it’s a strange turn of phrase, I think it’s still perfectly OK.
While we commonly talk about data types (plural), we do usually specify the fact that software systems (such as a version control system for example) act to house various pieces or groups of data – so should we in fact say datum in this case?
AskOxford.com has this to say, “Strictly speaking, data is the plural of datum, and should be used with a plural verb (like facts). However, there has been a growing tendency to use it as an equivalent to the uncountable noun information, followed by a singular verb. This is now regarded as generally acceptable in American use, and in the context of information technology. The traditional usage is still preferable, at least in Britain, but it may soon become a lost cause.”
Further still, you might like to consider the fact that those of us over thirty probably remember using the term data to refer to facts and statistics during Physics classes at school - a usage that is surely dying out now.
Those of us with an etymological bent may also like the think about the fact that the use of words in certain contexts does change over the years and, logically, some words simply die out completely and other new terms are added.
What do you think the major candidates for word extinction are in the world of technology? Will ‘mainframe’ eventually go and will ‘floppy disk’ eventually not be needed at all? Or is this just a load of balderdash and piffle?
Doublespeak anyone?
PreviousComments on this post
Surely you mean "data are plural" ?
Maybe data is a plural works better?
Surely you mean "data are plural" ?
[Oops - so are my responses. Dunno why it did that]
I bow with respectful deference to your judgement on all manners grammatical Peter...
:-)
For it was you who wanted a correction in the title of the movie Lesbian Vampire Killers when you asked for some punctuation was it not?
AdrianB
This comment has been deleted at the users request
This is like a whole new word category, although that may be pushing things a little. A single character of data meaning one number or letter may count as a singular expression much like a blade of grass. But... in the real world you're more likely to hear about a block or even a ream of data. This could mean that there is a world of primary and secondary singular expressions out there.
Primary singular = One character ie: a blade of grass or a charachter of data.
Secondary singular = One field of grass or a block of data that fits neatly into it's own group.
The rest is plural.
Thank you Roger,
My father once insisted that he had won a scrabble game by sticking an S on wheat to make wheats.
He said that there was brown wheat, golden wheat, yellow wheat etc.. and that these were all types of "wheats".
I thought that was probably wrong.
Mind you I was 13 at the time so I didn't get the chance to express my viewpoint.
AdrianB
Win by any means necessary eh? couldn't find a reference to 'wheats' online, but hey it has the ring of plausibility about it. Almost acceptable if you where going to talk about wheats in terms of variety, such as goods on a ship. Different wheats instead of different varieties of wheat.
Win by any means necessary eh? couldn't find a reference to 'wheats' online, but hey it has the ring of plausibility about it. Almost acceptable if you where going to talk about wheats in terms of variety, such as goods on a ship. Different wheats instead of different varieties of wheat.
Posts are plural...
Have a good weekend.
Whoops, this happens sometimes after one post! If I delete one they'll both go.
Data, money, rice and many others are examples of what is called a mass noun. There is no plural of a mass noun. To get around this, in order to express a plural, a qualification is required, such as 'grains of rice', a 'collection/collections of data', a 'kilo of sugar', 'lots of money' and so on.
Therefore 'data is .......' is correct. In fact, plural is a also mass noun!
Gentlemen,
I am just so glad I fueled a little comment and interchange, mass nouns, plurals or otherwise.
Regards to all
Adrian
