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Mind your language

How ‘data’ became like ‘butter’

A slide in certainty about singulars and plurals

3 January 2015

9:00 AM

3 January 2015

9:00 AM

Someone on Radio 4 said she had heard about the sexism of Grand Theft Auto on ‘Women’s Hour’. It is called Woman’s Hour, though the other is possible, on the model of Children’s Hour. But I was struck in 2014 by a slide in certainty about singulars and plurals.

The three shakiest plurals are data, criteria and bacteria.

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