'Data' - singular or plural
We work with data all the time but we're never sure whether to use the word as a
singular or plural noun when discussing the topic. Whichever way we jump we are
sure to upset somebody. If we treat 'data' as a plural noun and say 'the data
are stored' then that makes us sound old-fashioned to young developers.
The alternative is to assume it's a singular noun and say 'the data is
retrieved'; but that makes us sound slapdash to senior staff.
Whatever we do would be wrong so we tend to hide our personal views and avoid
the ambiguity of the bare word 'data' altogether. Instead we use a term that is
obviously singular or obviously plural and say 'the data files are stored' or 'a
data item is retrieved'. Privately we treat 'data' as a singular and but over
Christmas I came across a line of argument which might give us the confidence
to come clean in public.
The Latin inheritance
The problem of course comes from the Latin word 'datum' - a known fact. The plural
in Latin is 'data' and this is the word that programmers have adopted to describe
a collection of known facts. English speakers seem to be happier to treat this plural
noun as though it were singular and this is what upsets the pedants.
We've now found two other words to upset the pedants. 'Stamina' is one. It's the plural
of 'stamen' - a thread or sinew - but 'agenda' is the killer. If anyone complains
about our saying 'the data is' I shall remind them that 'agenda' is the plural form
of 'agendum'. It means 'items to be discussed' and I shall inform the complainant that
they must treat the word properly as a plural. I won't let them say 'an agenda' but
I will insist that they say 'a few agenda' or even 'some agenda'. Furthermore, they
won't be allowed to put something 'on' an agenda but they'll have to put it 'in' or
'amongst' the agenda.
We have however given up on the argument about 'media' and 'medium'. It's the same Latin
problem so 'media' is plural and a single CD can't be storage media. But this doesn't upset
the purists in the same way as 'data' vs 'datum'.
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