From: Mark Wilden <mark@...>
Date: 2008-05-25T22:50:54+09:00
Subject: Re: #plural? or #singular?

On May 25, 2008, at 6:18 AM, Sean O'Halpin wrote:

> On Sat, May 24, 2008 at 5:35 PM, Ray Baxter <ray.baxter@gmail.com>  
> wrote:
>
>> The collective noun in American English is singular, while in British
>> English the collective noun is plural.
>
> While this is completely off-topic, I feel impelled to correct your
> assumption here: there is no such prescription in so-called 'British
> English'[1]. I quite regularly hear people using both the singular and
> the plural referring to the same collective noun even in the same
> breath, e.g. "The government's in disarray. They're going to have a
> tough time recovering from this defeat".

My favourite (sic) is the British use of the possessive for no reason:  
"We're going to Tesco's". :)

///ark