Stupid Grammar Question for the Editors

I realize I now have zero credibility in this area, but I would have said 'Data is....'

 

Depends on if you look at data as multiple individual items, or as a group. Group is, items are.

 

The team is/The Patriots are staying at an undisclosed hotel.
The jury is/The jurors are sequestered at an undisclosed hotel.

Unless you're British.

 

The same argument could be had over "staff". I've seen "the staff is" and "the staff are" an equal amount of times.

Personally, I think "data is" and "staff is" sounds better. I guess my mind registers those words as singular.

 

I think it sounds dumb to say, "the Thunder is ..." "The Heat is ..." They are TEAMS. TEAMS of PEOPLE.

You wouldn't say, "the Lakers is ..." so why say "the Thunder is ..."?

 

As far as team names, it's a style thing not worth losing sleep over. As long as people at my paper follow the paper's stylebook (a style I disagree with, BTW), I'm fine.

At one place there was a high school named after a cardinal named Gibbons and the repetitive desk joke was "gibbons are." Would be so cool if the school mascot were a monkey, but it isn't.

 

Technically, Thunder is would be correct grammar, but our style is to go with Thunder are, treating it as a collective team. Like Frank says, depends on paper's style. Our competition uses the grammatically correct version.

 

As for the original question, him and me. Since everyone else has chimed in.

 

Next question:

"He was wired completely different" or "differently."

I know I am right on this, need confirmation before I stab copyeditor. No offense to any copyeditors.

 

Differently. It modifies "wired" not "he."