In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK) newspaper The
Financial Times has changed its policy regarding the use of the word 'data'.

'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted alongside 'data
is', the choice being left to the writer.

[This must come as a relief to all Star Trek The Next Generation fans.
Data exists as a singular entity.]

On Wed, 15 Feb 2023 10:34:40 +0100, occam <occam@nowhere.nix> wrote:

>In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK) newspaper The
>Financial Times has changed its policy regarding the use of the word 'data'.
>
>'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
>concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted alongside 'data
>is', the choice being left to the writer.
>
>[This must come as a relief to all Star Trek The Next Generation fans.
>Data exists as a singular entity.]

I'm not a Star Trek fan and I never read The Financial Times, but to
me "data is" has always been correct.

Yes, "data" is plural in Latin, and the singular is "datum." But as
far as I'm concerned, that's irrelevant to what should be used in
English. "Datum" is very rarely used in English, and if it were used,
many English speakers wouldn't understand it.

On the other hand, I wouldn't say "the media is..."

On 15 Feb 2023, Ken Blake wrote

> On Wed, 15 Feb 2023 10:34:40 +0100, occam <occam@nowhere.nix>
> wrote:
>
>> In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK)
>> newspaper The Financial Times has changed its policy regarding
>> the use of the word
> 'data'.
>>
>> 'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
>> concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted
>> alongside 'data is', the choice being left to the writer.
>>
>> [This must come as a relief to all Star Trek The Next Generation
>> fans. Data exists as a singular entity.]
>
>
> I'm not a Star Trek fan and I never read The Financial Times, but
> to me "data is" has always been correct.
>
> Yes, "data" is plural in Latin, and the singular is "datum." But
> as far as I'm concerned, that's irrelevant to what should be used
> in English. "Datum" is very rarely used in English, and if it were
> used, many English speakers wouldn't understand it.

I agree; I think the most common use of "datum" is in surveying --
the standard plural of which is, I believe, "datums".

--
Cheers, Harvey

On Feb 15, 2023, occam wrote
(in article <k53n9fFf2rlU1@mid.individual.net>):

> In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK) newspaper The
> Financial Times has changed its policy regarding the use of the word 'data'.
>
> 'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
> concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted alongside 'data
> is', the choice being left to the writer.
>
> [This must come as a relief to all Star Trek The Next Generation fans.
> Data exists as a singular entity.]

data is neither singular nor plural

it is uncountable, like “water”, "ice cream”, “candy”, etc.

On Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 11:38:57 AM UTC-5, heron stone wrote:
> On Feb 15, 2023, occam wrote
> (in article <k53n9f...@mid.individual.net>):

> > In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK) newspaper The
> > Financial Times has changed its policy regarding the use of the word 'data'.
> > 'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
> > concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted alongside 'data
> > is', the choice being left to the writer.
> > [This must come as a relief to all Star Trek The Next Generation fans.
> > Data exists as a singular entity.]
>
> data is neither singular nor plural
>
> it is uncountable, like “water”, "ice cream”, “candy”, etc.

(a "mass noun")

It seems to have grown an obligatory classifier when it needs
to be counted: a piece of data like a slice of bread or a head
of cattle.

Den 15.02.2023 kl. 17.03 skrev Ken Blake:

> I'm not a Star Trek fan and I never read The Financial Times, but to
> me "data is" has always been correct.

I have no preference in this matter. In Danish the verb is the same in
plural and singular - in fact it's also independent of gender.

> Yes, "data" is plural in Latin, and the singular is "datum." But as
> far as I'm concerned, that's irrelevant to what should be used in
> English. "Datum" is very rarely used in English, and if it were used,
> many English speakers wouldn't understand it.

"Datum" is never used in Danish, only "data". We have a derivate of the
singular form, "dato", which means "date" as in "May the 1st".

--
Bertel, Denmark

Den 15.02.2023 kl. 17.38 skrev heron stone:

> data is neither singular nor plural

No, but "data" is.

--
Bertel, Denmark

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 19:04:41 +0100 / Bertel Lund Hansen:

> "Datum" is never used in Danish, only "data". We have a derivate of the
> singular form, "dato", which means "date" as in "May the 1st".

German: „Datum“ == “Date” (15.02.2022),
Plural: „Daten“ which is highly confusing sometimes, as Daten is also
quite simply ... “data”, the singular of which would, again, be „Datum“,
that nobody cares to use anyway. At least, it read strange, whenever I
stumbled upon it.

Cheerio.

On Feb 15, 2023, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote
(in article <tsj6un$2utsu$2@dont-email.me>):

> Den 15.02.2023 kl. 17.38 skrev heron stone:
>
> > data is neither singular nor plural
>
> No, but "data" is.

data WAS plural to julius caesar

On Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 9:34:44 AM UTC, occam wrote:
> In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK) newspaper The
> Financial Times has changed its policy regarding the use of the word 'data'.
>
> 'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
> concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted alongside 'data
> is', the choice being left to the writer.

It's not singular, but neither is it plural. It's a mass noun along with
water, sand, milk, rice, etc. You don't say the rice are, the water are,
the sand are, you say the rice *IS*, the water *IS*, the sand *IS*,
the data *IS*.

Den 16.02.2023 kl. 05.20 skrev heron stone:

> On Feb 15, 2023, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote
> (in article <tsj6un$2utsu$2@dont-email.me>):
>
>> Den 15.02.2023 kl. 17.38 skrev heron stone:
>>
>>> data is neither singular nor plural
>>
>> No, but "data" is.
>
> data WAS plural to julius caesar

Sure, and the Danish that was spoken around his time, is completely
incomprehensible to me.

--
Bertel, Denmark

On Wed, 15 Feb 2023, at 21:23:27, Jonathan Harston posted:
>On Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 9:34:44 AM UTC, occam wrote:
>> In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK) newspaper The
>> Financial Times has changed its policy regarding the use of the word 'data'.
>>
>> 'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
>> concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted alongside 'data
>> is', the choice being left to the writer.
>
>It's not singular, but neither is it plural. It's a mass noun along with
>water, sand, milk, rice, etc. You don't say the rice are, the water are,
>the sand are, you say the rice *IS*, the water *IS*, the sand *IS*,
>the data *IS*.

Look what happened to pease. After everyone decided it was plural, they
had to invent a new singular, pea.
--
Paul W

On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 5:13:40 AM UTC-8, Paul Wolff wrote:
> On Wed, 15 Feb 2023, at 21:23:27, Jonathan Harston posted:
> >On Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 9:34:44 AM UTC, occam wrote:
> >> In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK) newspaper The
> >> Financial Times has changed its policy regarding the use of the word 'data'.
> >>
> >> 'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
> >> concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted alongside 'data
> >> is', the choice being left to the writer.
> >
> >It's not singular, but neither is it plural. It's a mass noun along with
> >water, sand, milk, rice, etc. You don't say the rice are, the water are,
> >the sand are, you say the rice *IS*, the water *IS*, the sand *IS*,
> >the data *IS*.
> Look what happened to pease. After everyone decided it was plural, they
> had to invent a new singular, pea.
> --
Did they use to say 'Like two peases in a pod'?
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/like-two-peas-in-a-pod

On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 7:27:21 AM UTC-7, Dingbat wrote:
> On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 5:13:40 AM UTC-8, Paul Wolff wrote:
> > On Wed, 15 Feb 2023, at 21:23:27, Jonathan Harston posted:
> > >On Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 9:34:44 AM UTC, occam wrote:
> > >> In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK) newspaper The
> > >> Financial Times has changed its policy regarding the use of the word 'data'.
> > >>
> > >> 'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
> > >> concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted alongside 'data
> > >> is', the choice being left to the writer.
> > >
> > >It's not singular, but neither is it plural. It's a mass noun along with
> > >water, sand, milk, rice, etc. You don't say the rice are, the water are,
> > >the sand are, you say the rice *IS*, the water *IS*, the sand *IS*,
> > >the data *IS*.

> > Look what happened to pease. After everyone decided it was plural, they
> > had to invent a new singular, pea.
> > --
> Did they use to say 'Like two peases in a pod'?
> https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/like-two-peas-in-a-pod

According to the OED, the plural added -s or -n or was unchanged, with
various spellings.

--
Jerry Friedman

On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 6:57:33 AM UTC-8, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 7:27:21 AM UTC-7, Dingbat wrote:
> > On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 5:13:40 AM UTC-8, Paul Wolff wrote:
> > > On Wed, 15 Feb 2023, at 21:23:27, Jonathan Harston posted:
> > > >On Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 9:34:44 AM UTC, occam wrote:
> > > >> In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK) newspaper The
> > > >> Financial Times has changed its policy regarding the use of the word 'data'.
> > > >>
> > > >> 'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
> > > >> concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted alongside 'data
> > > >> is', the choice being left to the writer.
> > > >
> > > >It's not singular, but neither is it plural. It's a mass noun along with
> > > >water, sand, milk, rice, etc. You don't say the rice are, the water are,
> > > >the sand are, you say the rice *IS*, the water *IS*, the sand *IS*,
> > > >the data *IS*.
>
> > > Look what happened to pease. After everyone decided it was plural, they
> > > had to invent a new singular, pea.
> > > --
> > Did they use to say 'Like two peases in a pod'?
> > https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/like-two-peas-in-a-pod
> According to the OED, the plural added -s or -n or was unchanged, with
> various spellings.
>
When it was OE poese, poesen would have been the way to make it plural.
Pease must be a spelling after OE. How long did there continue to be plurals
ending in n? FWIW, in computing, I've occasionally seen plurals BOXEN and
VAXEN.

On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 8:09:37 AM UTC-7, Dingbat wrote:
> On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 6:57:33 AM UTC-8, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> > On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 7:27:21 AM UTC-7, Dingbat wrote:
> > > On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 5:13:40 AM UTC-8, Paul Wolff wrote:
> > > > On Wed, 15 Feb 2023, at 21:23:27, Jonathan Harston posted:
> > > > >On Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 9:34:44 AM UTC, occam wrote:
> > > > >> In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK) newspaper The
> > > > >> Financial Times has changed its policy regarding the use of the word 'data'.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> 'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
> > > > >> concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted alongside 'data
> > > > >> is', the choice being left to the writer.
> > > > >
> > > > >It's not singular, but neither is it plural. It's a mass noun along with
> > > > >water, sand, milk, rice, etc. You don't say the rice are, the water are,
> > > > >the sand are, you say the rice *IS*, the water *IS*, the sand *IS*,
> > > > >the data *IS*.
> >
> > > > Look what happened to pease. After everyone decided it was plural, they
> > > > had to invent a new singular, pea.
> > > > --
> > > Did they use to say 'Like two peases in a pod'?
> > > https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/like-two-peas-in-a-pod
> > According to the OED, the plural added -s or -n or was unchanged, with
> > various spellings.
> >
> When it was OE poese, poesen would have been the way to make it plural.

For the OE singular, the OED gives only piose, pise, and pyse.

> Pease must be a spelling after OE. How long did there continue to be plurals
> ending in n?

The last prose citation in the OED is from 1777. (Speaking of back-formed
singulars, it mentions cherries.) There are two citations from the 19th century,
one from Browning, but both are used for rhyme.

> FWIW, in computing, I've occasionally seen plurals BOXEN and
> VAXEN.

Nerd humor, following rules inappropriately.

--
Jerry Friedman

On Thu, 16 Feb 2023 13:07:47 +0000
Paul Wolff <bounceme@thiswontwork.wolff.co.uk> wrote:

> On Wed, 15 Feb 2023, at 21:23:27, Jonathan Harston posted:
> >On Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 9:34:44 AM UTC, occam wrote:
> >> In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK) newspaper The
> >> Financial Times has changed its policy regarding the use of the word 'data'.
> >>
> >> 'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
> >> concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted alongside 'data
> >> is', the choice being left to the writer.
> >
> >It's not singular, but neither is it plural. It's a mass noun along with
> >water, sand, milk, rice, etc. You don't say the rice are, the water are,
> >the sand are, you say the rice *IS*, the water *IS*, the sand *IS*,
> >the data *IS*.
>
> Look what happened to pease. After everyone decided it was plural, they
> had to invent a new singular, pea.

A single grain of rie might get confused with one of rye, so rice it is.

--
Bah, and indeed Humbug.

On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 7:40:58 AM UTC-8, Kerr-Mudd, John wrote:
> On Thu, 16 Feb 2023 13:07:47 +0000
> Paul Wolff <boun...@thiswontwork.wolff.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 15 Feb 2023, at 21:23:27, Jonathan Harston posted:
> > >On Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 9:34:44 AM UTC, occam wrote:
> > >> In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK) newspaper The
> > >> Financial Times has changed its policy regarding the use of the word 'data'.
> > >>
> > >> 'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
> > >> concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted alongside 'data
> > >> is', the choice being left to the writer.
> > >
> > >It's not singular, but neither is it plural. It's a mass noun along with
> > >water, sand, milk, rice, etc. You don't say the rice are, the water are,
> > >the sand are, you say the rice *IS*, the water *IS*, the sand *IS*,
> > >the data *IS*.
> >
> > Look what happened to pease. After everyone decided it was plural, they
> > had to invent a new singular, pea.
> A single grain of rie might get confused with one of rye, so rice it is.
>
IOW, rie would go awry:-)

It is arisi in Tamil. A single grain can be ari. Tamil chauvinists like to claim
that the English word came from Tamil. I see an alternate claim that
rice came from an Iranian word which came from Sanskrit vrihi. I don't see
how they know that the Iranian word is borrowed from Sanskrit rather than
being a cognate of a Sanskrit word. Anyhow, rice looks a lot more similar
to arisi than to vrihi, so I can't fault the Tamil chauvinists too much for their
claim.

On 16-Feb-23 15:40, Kerr-Mudd, John wrote:
> On Thu, 16 Feb 2023 13:07:47 +0000
> Paul Wolff <bounceme@thiswontwork.wolff.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 15 Feb 2023, at 21:23:27, Jonathan Harston posted:
>>> On Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 9:34:44 AM UTC, occam wrote:
>>>> In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK) newspaper The
>>>> Financial Times has changed its policy regarding the use of the word 'data'.
>>>>
>>>> 'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
>>>> concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted alongside 'data
>>>> is', the choice being left to the writer.
>>>
>>> It's not singular, but neither is it plural. It's a mass noun along with
>>> water, sand, milk, rice, etc. You don't say the rice are, the water are,
>>> the sand are, you say the rice *IS*, the water *IS*, the sand *IS*,
>>> the data *IS*.
>>
>> Look what happened to pease. After everyone decided it was plural, they
>> had to invent a new singular, pea.
>
> A single grain of rie might get confused with one of rye, so rice it is.

The minimum unit of rye is the pocketful.

--
Sam Plusnet

On 16/02/2023 20:15, Sam Plusnet wrote:
> On 16-Feb-23 15:40, Kerr-Mudd, John wrote:
>> On Thu, 16 Feb 2023 13:07:47 +0000
>> Paul Wolff <bounceme@thiswontwork.wolff.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, 15 Feb 2023, at 21:23:27, Jonathan Harston posted:
>>>> On Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 9:34:44 AM UTC, occam wrote:
>>>>> In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK)
>>>>> newspaper The
>>>>> Financial Times has changed its policy regarding the use of the
>>>>> word 'data'.
>>>>>
>>>>> 'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
>>>>> concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted alongside
>>>>> 'data
>>>>> is', the choice being left to the writer.
>>>>
>>>> It's not singular, but neither is it plural. It's a mass noun along
>>>> with
>>>> water, sand, milk, rice, etc. You don't say the rice are, the water
>>>> are,
>>>> the sand are, you say the rice *IS*, the water *IS*, the sand *IS*,
>>>> the data *IS*.
>>>
>>> Look what happened to pease. After everyone decided it was plural, they
>>> had to invent a new singular, pea.
>>
>> A single grain of rie might get confused with one of rye, so rice it is.
>
> The minimum unit of rye is the pocketful.
>
And the maximum unit of Rhye is sevenseasful.

--
Ray
UK

Jonathan Harston:
> It's not singular, but neither is it plural. It's a mass noun...

Mass nouns are either singular or plural. Most are singular.

> you say the rice *IS*, the water *IS*, the sand *IS*, the data *IS*.

Which shows that they're singular.

Word that can be plural mass nouns include "clothes", "goods", "arms"
or "armanents", "graffiti", "personnel", "skies", and "stairs".
Some people would not use them that way.

What mass nouns don't do is vary between singular and plural.
--
Mark Brader | "...what can be asserted without evidence
Toronto | can also be dismissed without evidence."
msb@vex.net | --Christopher Hitchens

My text in this article is in the public domain.

On Thu, 16 Feb 2023 21:53:09 +0000, msb@vex.net (Mark Brader) wrote:

>Jonathan Harston:
>> It's not singular, but neither is it plural. It's a mass noun...
>
>Mass nouns are either singular or plural. Most are singular.
>
>> you say the rice *IS*, the water *IS*, the sand *IS*, the data *IS*.
>
>Which shows that they're singular.
>
>Word that can be plural mass nouns include "clothes", "goods", "arms"
>or "armanents", "graffiti", "personnel", "skies", and "stairs".
>Some people would not use them that way.
>
>What mass nouns don't do is vary between singular and plural.

The women's tennis tournament presently underway is in
Qatar, the Qatar TotalEnergies Open.

I've been bothered all week by trying to figure whey they
didn't use Energy. I'm thinking, 'literal translation' of Arabic?

--
Rich Ulrich

On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 12:15:22 PM UTC-8, Sam Plusnet wrote:
> On 16-Feb-23 15:40, Kerr-Mudd, John wrote:
> > On Thu, 16 Feb 2023 13:07:47 +0000
> > Paul Wolff <boun...@thiswontwork.wolff.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> >> On Wed, 15 Feb 2023, at 21:23:27, Jonathan Harston posted:
> >>> On Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 9:34:44 AM UTC, occam wrote:
> >>>> In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK) newspaper The
> >>>> Financial Times has changed its policy regarding the use of the word 'data'.
> >>>>
> >>>> 'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
> >>>> concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted alongside 'data
> >>>> is', the choice being left to the writer.
> >>>
> >>> It's not singular, but neither is it plural. It's a mass noun along with
> >>> water, sand, milk, rice, etc. You don't say the rice are, the water are,
> >>> the sand are, you say the rice *IS*, the water *IS*, the sand *IS*,
> >>> the data *IS*.
> >>
> >> Look what happened to pease. After everyone decided it was plural, they
> >> had to invent a new singular, pea.
> >
> > A single grain of rie might get confused with one of rye, so rice it is.
> The minimum unit of rye is the pocketful.
>
You won't get a pocketful for sixpence which translates to 2.5p in the
current UK currency. A British copper penny I had in the 60s was
gargantuan.I wonder how much its copper is worth today.

On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 5:12:49 PM UTC-8, Rich Ulrich wrote:
> On Thu, 16 Feb 2023 21:53:09 +0000, m...@vex.net (Mark Brader) wrote:
>
> >Jonathan Harston:
> >> It's not singular, but neither is it plural. It's a mass noun...
> >
> >Mass nouns are either singular or plural. Most are singular.
> >
> >> you say the rice *IS*, the water *IS*, the sand *IS*, the data *IS*.
> >
> >Which shows that they're singular.
> >
> >Word that can be plural mass nouns include "clothes", "goods", "arms"
> >or "armanents", "graffiti", "personnel", "skies", and "stairs".
> >Some people would not use them that way.
> >
> >What mass nouns don't do is vary between singular and plural.
> The women's tennis tournament presently underway is in
> Qatar, the Qatar TotalEnergies Open.
>
> I've been bothered all week by trying to figure whey they
> didn't use Energy. I'm thinking, 'literal translation' of Arabic?
>
It doesn't come from Arabic. TotalEnergies is a French multinational named
Total from 1953 till recently.

TotalEnergies, is a single name, in the plural, for all energies and all talents.
<https://totalenergies.com.lb/en/who-we-are/totalenergies-brand>

That's a novel interpretation; a different rationale had been stated for
changing the company's name from Total to TotalEnergies:
Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of Total, announced to employees
on February 9, 2021 that the Board of Directors had decided to ask for
shareholder approval to change the Group’s name to TotalEnergies.
“TotalEnergies will symbolize our strategic transformation into a broad
energy company.”
<https://totalenergies.com/media/video/total-will-propose-to-shareholders-changing-its-name-to-totalenergies>

Le 15/02/2023 à 09:34, occam a écrit :
>
> In a BBC Radio 4 item today, it was revealed that the (UK) newspaper The
> Financial Times has changed its policy regarding the use of the word 'data'.
>
> 'Data is' is now the new guideline, as far as FT writing style is
> concerned. In the last few years 'data are' was accepted alongside 'data
> is', the choice being left to the writer. [...]

If I understand correctly, the FT's guidance is that 'data' should
always be singular and never plural. That seems odd to me, who've been
brought up to think of it as plural.

If people use 'data' for both the singular and the plural, then for them
it's invariable in number (like 'counsel' - he (or she) is a King's
Counsel and shares chambers with other King's Counsel).

For myself, I'd quite like to use 'datum' for the singular, but it won't
pass with most people, so I fall back to 'piece of data'.

I suppose the real question is: is this in fact the FT's opinion, or is
it a ploy to gain free publicity through outlets such as BBC R4?