[Sigia-l] data as information?

[Dwayne King]

>On 6/29/05, Dan Saffer <dan at odannyboy.com> wrote:
> Datas are the simples of existance

I know this is being too picky and is really breaking the spirt of the
debate here, but there's no such word as datas. Data is already the
plural of datum. You can sometimes use data as a singular (though
frowned on by purists) when the implication is that you are referring
to a body of data. That said, the way most people are referring to
data on the list are in error when they write "data is," most often
they should be using it "data are."

Again, I know this is being overly picky. I let it slide until we
started making up new words. Apologies, but the statistician in me
cringes at the improper use of the word. Feel free to continue using
incorrectly if you'd like (most do), but if you're interested in using
it correctly, consider yourself armed.

Luckily this is a written conversation, so we can avoid the whole
debate of pronunciation.  :)