Data is plural

Reading through Bill Bryson’s Dictionary for Writers and Editors recently I was delighted to find that the much revered author had taken the trouble to list “Data” under his D chapter.

His entry makes interesting reading:

“Data is plural,” says Bryson. “Although this fact is widely disregarded, you should at least be aware that – ‘The data was fed into a computer’ – is incorrect.”

I think it makes an entertaining diversion to consider this for a second and think about the fact that we do often make this mistake, if it indeed is one.

It’s a cloudy area I think. Consider the fact that we talk about foods and we also talk about ‘food’ as a plural.

I suppose it’s like saying that – ‘The food was fed into a human’ – is also wrong. While it’s a strange turn of phrase, I think it’s still perfectly OK.

While we commonly talk about data types (plural), we do usually specify the fact that software systems (such as a version control system for example) act to house various pieces or groups of data – so should we in fact say datum in this case?

AskOxford.com has this to say, “Strictly speaking, data is the plural of datum, and should be used with a plural verb (like facts). However, there has been a growing tendency to use it as an equivalent to the uncountable noun information, followed by a singular verb. This is now regarded as generally acceptable in American use, and in the context of information technology. The traditional usage is still preferable, at least in Britain, but it may soon become a lost cause.”

Further still, you might like to consider the fact that those of us over thirty probably remember using the term data to refer to facts and statistics during Physics classes at school - a usage that is surely dying out now.

Those of us with an etymological bent may also like the think about the fact that the use of words in certain contexts does change over the years and, logically, some words simply die out completely and other new terms are added.

What do you think the major candidates for word extinction are in the world of technology? Will ‘mainframe’ eventually go and will ‘floppy disk’ eventually not be needed at all? Or is this just a load of balderdash and piffle?

Doublespeak anyone?