Post #1351275

2026-03-31 00:00 UTC

@GrahamDowns – Anyway, I've guessed that consideration – a company equals the people executing the mission – underpins that, and I'd love to find historical evidence that really affirms it. (Do you think the other pluralizational difference there is based on something so profound, or is that just more of a sense of grammar feeling different to different cultures?)

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@GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa 2026-03-31 06:44

@Starfia Nah, I don't think it's actually that. Although it is an interesting thought when you consider the aforementioned "colleague" vs "coworker" thing ("colleague" being MUCH more common in the UK). I think it maybe has more in common with "data is" vs "data are", because while almost no-one says "data are" anymore, I have heard some older people doing it. I often recommend this book, The Prodigal Tongue by @lynneguist.bsky.social. I may have even recommended it to YOU before; apologies if that's the case. It's all about the differences between so-called US English and English everywhere else in the world. I can't remember exactly, but I'm fairly certain there was a chapter on this very topic....

Open ##1351276