Data obtained from quick Google searches. Visualization produced using ggplot2 in R.

[removed]

Could it possibly be a regional thing, like how team is plural in British English and singular in American English?

This is dependent upon which form of English you speak. Neither is more correct than the other just as no one language’s grammar rules are any “more correct” than any other language’s rules.

It’s exactly this.

I just did the same Google searches and got the opposite results:

• Data is: 1,240,000,000
• Data are: 881,000,000

[removed]

I won’t say data are. I know it’s grammatically correct but I’m not doing it. I’m also not going to say datum.

I’m also not changing plural RBIs to RBI in baseball.

Also, if OP is interested in "correct" grammar, they should note that a hyphen shouldn't be used in the phrase "grammatically correct."

Could also be that people are talking about someone named Data.

Datum is: Data are: I bet “data are” gives more results in the end

Is that modifier not considered a compound adjective? I’ll admit I’m always confused by this when Word changes its mind every 5 min

Weird. My results were: Data is 4.3 million, Data are 5.58 million. I should’ve asked ChatGPT

Interesting, thanks for the info! I come from a scientific writing background

You’ve never known nonsensical fury if you haven’t been “corrected” for saying RBIs instead of RBI

You don't need a hyphen when the modifier ends in -ly. From the Chicago Manual of Style:

Compounds formed by an adverb ending in ly plus an adjective or participle (such as largely irrelevant or smartly dressed) are not hyphenated either before or after a noun, since ambiguity is virtually impossible. (The ly ending with adverbs signals to the reader that the next word will be another modifier, not a noun.)

Maybe try RsBI. That might roll off the tongue a little easier

Wow that’s helpful! Thanks for teaching me something!

There are people today who have only known the game since they started saying RBI. I’m old and I’m not changing. 75% of my life we used an S. LOL.

[removed]

Don’t worry about what’s most common (check a lot vs alot! Nobody says adozen or abunch). Data are plural.

Or a company, or a concept like 'Big Data is watching you'.

Well, even if it is being used as a plural noun, data is a collective noun, so it would always be singular. So actually most people are wrong, including OP.

[removed]

Data is like sand; sand is ;)

I’m a data professional and I absolutely agree with you, hahaha.

I’m also constantly torn between whether I collect “Walkmans” or “Walkmen” or “Walksman.”

And I change my pronunciation of “data” all willy nilly.

You’re right and you should say it again

[removed]

Google adjust results based on factors like location and what else you’ve searched recently. You’d probably get the same results as each other if you used an incognito tab. For what it’s worth, google trends shows, “Data is” is searched about 3x more often than “Data are”.

Oh and chatGPT is a chat bot, not a fact bot. It’s not for if you are trying to get factual information, it’s just for writing text that sounds human.

It's actually both, depending on the context in which "data" is uses. If "data" is meant to refer to a specific collection of numbers, then it is plural: "The data are in a spreadsheet." Replace the word "data" with "numbers" in your head. If "data" is meant to refer to a nonspecific collection of information, then it is singular: "The data on drinking and driving is clear". Replace the word "data" with "information" in your head. (Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/data)

You’re saying there’s no such word as “teams” in Britain’s lexicon of words? Or even vernacular usage?

My statistics professor went on a tangent one day about how the ‘a’ sound in “data” (as in dapper) signifies singular information and “data” as in the character from Star Trek signifies the distribution of information.

Why do you say that "data is" is incorrect?

No, what I meant is that in American English you say “our team is winning”, but in British English you say “our team are winning”. The team is a unit made up of multiple people, and British English reflects the “multiple people” part whereas American English reflects the “unit” part.

Ah. Well that’s just stupid. Like when I’m talking about family, which is composed of individual members I love, I don’t say “my family are having dinner tonight”. Why do you think team is treated in such a peculiar and incorrect way?

Oh, “my family are” would also be correct in British English! Basically any noun that describes a collective is treated this way. It’s an interesting quirk and definitely sounds odd if you’re not used to it.

Or in phrases: "viewers of this data are more likely to...", "the main argument against the collection of this data is...", etc.

[removed]

Datum is singular, but archaic I think. I use it just to be an asshole.

Data is a plural noun, the singular form is datum.

Depends on the context. “Datum” is used frequently in many engineering fields.

Damn then. I'll have to find a better anachronism. Sigh!

Why do you say data is plural? It is very commonly used as a mass noun, and the Merriam-Webster usage guide considers this to be standard.

He was asking why the OP said that “data is” is incorrect, if we’re getting pedantic here

Great explanation and very useful (for me atleast )

[removed]

[removed]

If everyone decides to start using a word a certain way, that then becomes the way the word is used. I have many datas to support this.

I am totally going to steal this one.

Wish I could retweet

Least ignorant and arrogant American

[deleted]

Idgaf. And I do actually take pride in saying what I feel in a time where doing so is so repressed.

I truly feel that it is stupid to use ‘are’ for nouns that are a collective.

So go ahead and insult America, makes you no different than the rest of the world we’re protecting.

[deleted]

I’m looking forward to the day when this subreddit becomes r/datumsarebeautiful

[removed]