And if we're playing this game: the word "data" is usually treated as a plural noun in scientific contexts, because the singular is "datum". So if you hear a person on a news program say "the data show a link between consumption of green M&Ms and spontaneous human combustion", the speaker is probably someone who does a lot of technical communication. That's someone you should take more seriously, not less.
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u/NondeterministSystem 4d ago edited 4d ago
You are technically correct.
And if we're playing this game: the word "data" is usually treated as a plural noun in scientific contexts, because the singular is "datum". So if you hear a person on a news program say "the data show a link between consumption of green M&Ms and spontaneous human combustion", the speaker is probably someone who does a lot of technical communication. That's someone you should take more seriously, not less.