Re: collective nouns -- Re: Optimal programming advice

In article
<ron-shepard-559726.09490410092005@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Ron Shepard <ron-shepard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> In article <nospam-166F18.08145309092005@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
> Richard E Maine <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Flight data is needed to validate aerodynamic characteristics.
>
> "A flight data
> is needed to validate aerodynamic characteristics." doesn't sound
> right, which suggests also that "flight data" really is a plural
> entity in that sentence.

I agree it doesn't sound right, but I disagree about the reason. I'd say
that it was more that the "data" was neither a specific singular item
nor a plural one, but a... I forget the term..., but something whose
quantity is not normally enumerated as a number of items. Like milk, as
in "Milk is good to drink." One would not say "A milk is good to drink",
but neither would you say "Milk are good to drink.".

Of course, I could have further confused matters by using "wine" instead
of "milk", as I might well refer to "A wine", while I'd never refer to
"A milk." :-)
.

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