In 17 o two, according to the oxford english dictionary, comes the first appearance of singular data. And this was in an astronomy text book. This is only about 60 years after plural data had first shown up. So we really have singular data going almost back to the beginning of the word in english. But you can now look at a tool called google books n graham viewer and see that the word in its plural form has started to decline relative to the singular.
As interest rates rise, lots of pandemic-era property trends are fading—but not every market is equally vulnerable as the boom peters out. Generals have long avoided fighting in cities: it is messy and dangerous. Increasingly, though, they have no choice. And our language columnist on the subtle question of whether “data” is plural or singular.
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