Grammar pick-and-mix

[ewx]

Apropos this and this:

[Poll #638007]

Comments

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

*prays everyone understands less/fewer*

I voted 'less' on the grounds that I almost always mean that, but occasionally I am thinking in terms of datums, and might then use data as a plural.

[edith-the-hutt.livejournal.com]

Give me context, both can be appropriate.

Of course personally I'm in favour of more data

[armb.livejournal.com]

But fewer datums. (And probably sometimes fewer data, but on the whole I think generally it would be a mass noun.)

[mr-ricarno.livejournal.com]

Right, here's the deal as I see it:

'Data' was borrowed into English as a loan-word from Latin. Originally it was probably understood that this was a plural form. However, over the course of a few generations it was reanalysed as a singular, because that made life simpler and we English don't generally form plurals with {-a}. Plus, we don't have the word 'datum' (correction: we do, but it's got a totally different meaning). Etymology ain't worth jack-shit to most people except linguistic pedants - the rest of us form our mental grammars by abductive logic, which is why languages change.

Egad, I'm opinionated today.

[simont]

Depends on context. I'd instinctively treat "data" as a mass noun in a computer context, but as the plural of "datum" in a scientific context. I don't think I can usefully justify this view, but I think it's the way my language centres would jump if I weren't thinking hard about it.

[vyvyan.livejournal.com]

Mind you, I'd be happy enough with "less datums" too :-)

(5 datums or less, anyone?)

[gareth-rees.livejournal.com]

In computing, "data" is almost always used as a mass noun, like "water" or "information". We say "how much data" (not "how many data"). If I wanted a construction with fewer, I would have to qualify it with a count noun, perhaps "fewer data points" or "fewer bytes of data".

[k425.livejournal.com]

Totally offtopic, but I've just had the following conversation with YoungBloke:

YB: What dat?
Me: What is it, you know what it is.
YB: A winging!
Me: Yes, it's a penguin.
YB: Anna 'at!

I think he's got icon love.

[stephdairy.livejournal.com]

Less, because today I feel that the less/fewer thing is a pointless archaism.

Tomorrow I may feel differently.

(S)

[oldbloke.livejournal.com]

Either, depending on context.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Both. Depends on context.

[gerald_duck]

I'd say either is valid, provided one is then consistent within the context.

(I feel a bit like an AOL user for saying so but, well, you didn't provide a suitable poll option. :-p )

[addedentry.livejournal.com]

Can I have uncountably much data?

[ex-lark-asc.livejournal.com]

Insufficient data to make decision.