Way OT, but still not controversial

[Limp Lizard]

Well, there are those on the net who can make anything something to get incensed over. Anyway...

I have read several things on various sites where the writer likes to refer to entities composed of many individuals in the plural. Like "TCU are a university in Fort Worth, Texas." I see that all the time recently. Is this a new thing, bad grammar, or just a different slant to things that has always been there but for some reason I keep hitting on recently?

 

[The Frog to be Named Later]

I thinks it’s a British thing.

 

[Land Frog]

AI?

 

[Dogfrog]

I thinks it’s a British thing.

Yea, I first heard it working with Canadians.

 

[Limp Lizard]

Well, Cheerio, and thanks for the info.

 

[BrewingFrog]

Yea, I first heard it working with Canadians.

Eh.

 

[Brog]

Limp, I really think that you is too over concerned about grammar.

 

[Dogfrog]

Eh.

Ha. He was a McGill chemical engineer. He would say things like “Exxon are producing such and such, eh…”

 

[PurpleBloodSpitter]

You can’t be considered woke of you speak English properly. Give the weekend edition of NPR’s Up First a listen.

 

[BrewingFrog]

Ha. He was a McGill chemical engineer. He would say things like “Exxon are producing such and such, eh…”

Down on Caye Caulker in Belize, there's a lovely crepe joint run by a Canadian couple. I had made a joke about the use of "eh" in speech, and the lady noted, "Well, I have never used 'eh' in a sentence in my life, eh."After a small pause, "Oh my God!"

 

[tcudoc]

As an example, Anheuser-Busch's preferred pronouns are "they" and "them." So, when you substitute "they" for the name of the company, it becomes easier to understand how "are" is the appropriate use.

 

[Dogfrog]

As an example, Anheuser-Busch's preferred pronouns are "they" and "them." So, when you substitute "they" for the name of the company, it becomes easier to understand how "are" is the appropriate use.

Ha. Understood, as I recall from my Haltom City 4th grade class, we were taught that companies and countries, groups, etc were treated as an individual “entity” grammatically. I’m willing to say nobody is wrong here.

 

[4 Oaks Frog]

Binary [ deposit from a bull that looks like Art Briles ]…

 

[Purp]

Well, there are those on the net who can make anything something to get incensed over. Anyway...

I have read several things on various sites where the writer likes to refer to entities composed of many individuals in the plural. Like "TCU are a university in Fort Worth, Texas." I see that all the time recently. Is this a new thing, bad grammar, or just a different slant to things that has always been there but for some reason I keep hitting on recently?

I think it boils down to how the speaker perceives the subject of the sentence. I'll refer to a team/group of individuals as plural when I'm talking about the multitude of them performing the action. For example, "Tottenham are blowing another golden opportunity." Americans do this all the time without realizing it. Anytime someone says, "The Cowboys suck." they're referring to the team as a collection of individuals rather than a singular entity. Otherwise they'd say, "The Cowboys sucks." It sucks; they suck.

Conversely, I routinely refer to organizations as singular entities too because there aren't any identifiable individuals as part of the sentence. I might say "TCU has a great football team." instead of "TCU have a great football team." That's because the team belongs to the institution and not a collection of students, faculty, and alumni. That's different from my earlier example about Tottenham bc I'm clearly referring to the players on the field independent of the corporate personnel, fans, and support staff.

Hopefully that makes sense.

 

[tcudoc]

Ha. Understood, as I recall from my Haltom City 4th grade class, we were taught that companies and countries, groups, etc were treated as an individual “entity” grammatically. I’m willing to say nobody is wrong here.

For the record, I am only joking and totally agree with you that it sounds strange and I consider it incorrect.

 

[An-Cap Frog]

your right...

 

[Dogfrog]

For the record, I am only joking and totally agree with you that it sounds strange and I consider it incorrect.

No, I understand. When you think of Exxon as the plural ‘they’ it makes some sense. Just sounds weird.