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Subject:Re: Data and other foreign plurals From:Romay Jean Sitze <rositze -at- NMSU -dot- EDU> Date:Wed, 22 Mar 1995 14:13:18 -0700
Has something changed? I am aware that data has fallen into accepted
usage as both singular and plural--except to the purist. But I have
lived in the desert all my life and have rarely heard the plural of
cactus as anything but cacti. Regardless of the reasons for the origin
of the word, it is much easier to pronounce than trying to say cactuses
(I assume that would be the alternative. The only people I've ever heard
use that form of the word are small children.)
> Only the
> terminally fussy would insist on datum, cacti (not even Old World
> plants--now *there's* a puzzle), octopi (or octopodes, more properly), ad
> nauseum.
RoMay Sitze People are persuaded more
rositze -at- nmsu -dot- edu by the depth of your conviction
than the height of your logic,
More by your enthusiasm
than any proof you can offer.
-author unknown-
