Time is right to treat 'data' as singular

Originally posted by DrKF
I'm from the UK, and I honestly don't know what you think is weird about that sentence!

USA: "It seems that Unilever has come up with a unique solution...".

Originally posted by FMF
Enough is enough. "The data are shown in Table 1.4.2." Ugly. Clumsy. Too beholden to Latin, which ain't English. It's high time English is allowed to evolve just a little bit and for 'data' to be treated like an uncountable noun.

Wilcume eow baerto se niwe eormengrund!

Originally posted by DrKF
My current contract brings me in to contact with lots of medical professionals, and they stick to the data-as-plural thing. Several months in, and it still jars when I read it. Maybe I should ask one whether he ever uses the word datum?

I have to admit until I read your post I didn't know "datum" was a word.
Kelly

Originally posted by KellyJay
I have to admit until I read your post I didn't know "datum" was a word.
Kelly

I know it as a German word, meaning "date".

I still find the English "visa" confusing; I have no idea why the plural form is used for the singular in English. In German it's one Visum and several Visa.

Da, data, dayadvham.