Thread Links Date Links
Thread Prev Thread Next Thread Index Date Prev Date Next Date Index

Re: datums (grrrr)

As I was saying ...

Vincent Lefevre wrote:

On 2009-08-25 11:00:26 -0500, R. Baker Kearfott wrote:

We can argue ad infinitum about deterioration of the English language,
which I have been speaking for over 50 years.  I see numerous problems
in common usage, such as matching the verb (plural or singular) with
the word closest to the verb, rather than with the actual subject
of the sentence  (for example, "A number of researchers ARE upset
about this," rather than the formally correct "A number of researchers
IS upset about this").


This isn't the number that is upset, but the researchers. So, the
correct form is the plural (ARE upset). This is confirmed by:

  http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutgrammar/numberofpeople

Anyway, standards should be written in a rigorous and consistent way
to avoid any incorrect interpretation... and possibly consistent with
other standards (such as IEEE 754 here, since P1788 will be partly
based on it).




--

---------------------------------------------------------------
R. Baker Kearfott,    rbk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx   (337) 482-5346 (fax)
(337) 482-5270 (work)                     (337) 993-1827 (home)
URL: http://interval.louisiana.edu/kearfott.html
Department of Mathematics, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
(Room 217 Maxim D. Doucet Hall, 1403 Johnston Street)
Box 4-1010, Lafayette, LA 70504-1010, USA
---------------------------------------------------------------