Grammar Nazis of the world unite....

[Mem]

Oh, Grammar Nazis of the world
Unite and take over
Grammar Nazis of the world
Hand it over
Hand it over
Hand it over

A heartless hand on my shoulder
A push - and it's over
Alabaster crashes down
(Six months is a long time)
Tried living in the real world
Instead of a shell
But before I began ...
I was bored before I even began

 

[Calboner]

It's "math", not "maths".

"Maths" is what people in the rest of the English speaking world use to pluralize the word "math". :smile:

"Math" is like the word "deer". It requires no pluralization.

You are both half-right -- and also, of course, half-wrong. Contra Phallic Intrigue, "maths" is correct idiomatic English outside of North America. Contra Vince, the "s" on the end of "maths" is not a plural indicator, any more than is the "s" on the end of "mathematics."

Math and maths are both abbreviations of mathematics.

Right.

To give it its full name over in the UK the subject is known as mathematics, hence we contract it to maths rather than math.

Right.

Of course, I have to say that putting an "s" on the end of the abbreviated form seems silly to me: if you are lopping off the later three syllables of a four-syllable word, why add the final letter of the longer form to the remaining syllable -- especially when it results in an awkward combination of consonants ("ths")? Keeping the "s" would only make sense if it were a plural indicator (as in referring to some doctors as "docs"); but it isn't. I can understand that it's something that you're just stuck with if you grow up in certain countries, but I'm glad that we don't use it in the US.

 

[798686]

Not really that bothered, tbh. Some people are good at spelling/grammar; others aren't. As long as I understand them, it's ok. I do think, however, if people repeatedly pick up others for spelling offences, it kinda says more about them than the person they're accusing...

My own mistakes are down to pure laziness, of course, or a heinous malfunction in the site's posting mechanisms.

*See how careful I've been with my spelling in this post?* :biggrin1:

 

[StrictlyAvg]

Mathematics is a bit of a funny one. I guess most US people would say "the math is easy" and most UK people would say "the maths are easy". BUT would you say a) "Maths IS my favourite subject" or b) "Maths ARE my favourite subjects"?

Uncountable nouns (rice, money etc) - aren't they good?

By the same token, who would say "the data is accurate" vs who would say "the data are accurate"? The latter phrase is technically correct but would be viewed as "affected" if you used it on anyone who doesn't give a shit!

Is it time to go out yet?

 

[798686]

"Maths is..."

 

[Calboner]

Mathematics is a bit of a funny one. I guess most US people would say "the math is easy" and most UK people would say "the maths are easy".

:doh: I stand corrected; and I can see a parallel case with certain other nouns. I think that the great majority of English speakers on both sides of the Atlantic would say (I mean as far as conjugation is concerned), "Politics is interesting" rather than *"Politics are interesting"; but if the subject is not the noun "politics" but rather, e.g., "his politics," I think that there would be more who would use "are" rather than "is." The pertinent distinction is between talking about the subject in general ("math(ematic)s," "politics") and talking about some particular manifestation or variety of it ("the maths," "his politics").

[Removed some stuff because it was confused and wrong. Damn!]

Uncountable nouns (rice, money etc) - aren't they good?

Who says that they are not "good"? Good for what, or in what respect?

By the same token, who would say "the data is accurate" vs who would say "the data are accurate"? The latter phrase is technically correct but would be viewed as "affected" if you used it on anyone who doesn't give a shit!

People who know that "data" is the plural of "datum," the past participle of the Latin verb "dare," are likely to treat the noun in English as a plural form; everybody else -- the vast majority, of course -- uses it as a singular non-count noun.

 

[phallic intrigue]

BUT would you say a) "Maths IS my favourite subject" or b) "Maths ARE my favourite subjects"?

Neither. I would say c) "Math is my favorite subject." :wink:

 

[DiscoBoy]

I think both sides of the Atlantic hate mathsemantics.:tongue:

 

[midlifebear]

Lemon (pie):

I vote we write using only consonants or vowels. Not both.

We should also avoid non-count nouns: milk, fish, etc.

 

[Stretch]

"Can yuo raed tihs? If you cna raed tihs, you hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Olny 40 plepoe out of 100 can. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, menas taht it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod arpepar, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Azanmig huh? And I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was so ipmorant!

 

[vince]

Lemon (pie):

I vote we write using only consonants or vowels. Not both.

We should also avoid non-count nouns: milk, fish, etc.

That sounds logical, but language isn't logic. People in the US drive on parkways and park on driveways.

 

[mitchymo]

"Can yuo raed tihs? If you cna raed tihs, you hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Olny 40 plepoe out of 100 can. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, menas taht it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod arpepar, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Azanmig huh? And I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was so ipmorant!

I liked this! I could read it but only at a slower pace and i stumbled twice but still. All good fun!

 

[D_Andreas Sukov]

I think both sides of the Atlantic hate mathsemantics.:tongue:

Hiiiiyawwwwwwwwww

 

[justmeincal]

"Can yuo raed tihs? If you cna raed tihs, you hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Olny 40 plepoe out of 100 can. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, menas taht it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod arpepar, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Azanmig huh? And I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was so ipmorant!

Interesting. I found it as easy and quick to read as if the words were in the correct order. That surprised me.

 

[D_Gunther Snotpole]

I think both sides of the Atlantic hate mathsemantics.:tongue:

Very funny.
When did I help you?
Can't remember.

 

[DiscoBoy]

Can't remember.

Memory, rubester? Must I say it again?:wink:

 

[Gillette]

ghoti = fish

gh (from enough) + o (from women) + ti (from motion) = fish

This pointless contribution has been brought to you by the letter Z.
However you choose to pronounce it.

 

[Mastur]

His mathematics are weak.
Maths (or in the US, math) is her strongest subject.

I'm bored...

 

[Mastur]

There is an inferior form of English that requires people to add unnecessary letters to words, as well as letters that don't make sense phonetically...

Uhm... I guess you mean words like:
Des Moines
Connecticut
Tucson
(marine) corps

:biggrin1:

 

[Calboner]

Uhm... I guess you mean words like:
Des Moines
Connecticut
Tucson
(marine) corps

:biggrin1:

indictment
parliament*

*I remember seeing a British television series, years ago, in which an actor playing Benjamin Disraeli pronounced this word the way it is spelled, which was fucking ridiculous, since the word was never supposed to be pronounced that way but derives from the French word "parlement." I don't know how it got the "ia" in the middle.