I write like
David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!
Showing posts with label good grammar costs nothing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label good grammar costs nothing. Show all posts
17 July 2010
Intriguing.
According to I Write Like, two of my favorite recent posts (this one and this one about my research) are similar to the writing of David Foster Wallace. I assume this means painful to read yet worthy of a MacArthur Fellowship? I guess they've got the first half right, anyway.
22 July 2007
The Data is In
Did you know that it is acceptable to use "data" as either plural or singular?
As I understand it, as a singular, it functions as a collective noun, the same way you would say, "The herd is...." This is explicit at dictionary.com, and implicit at Oxford English Dictionary Online (which you may not be able to access without a subscription), where multiple usage examples treat "data" as singular.
This is highly gratifying, as I often encounter smarter-than-thou types who feel compelled to interrupt presentations or discussions by shouting corrections when someone uses "data" as singular. When you assume, you may make an ass out of you and me, but when you hypercorrect, you just make an ass out of you.
As I understand it, as a singular, it functions as a collective noun, the same way you would say, "The herd is...." This is explicit at dictionary.com, and implicit at Oxford English Dictionary Online (which you may not be able to access without a subscription), where multiple usage examples treat "data" as singular.
This is highly gratifying, as I often encounter smarter-than-thou types who feel compelled to interrupt presentations or discussions by shouting corrections when someone uses "data" as singular. When you assume, you may make an ass out of you and me, but when you hypercorrect, you just make an ass out of you.
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