Make up your mind! Are they plural? Or is he singular?

R H Draney (Email Removed) wrote on 17 Feb 2004:
[nq:1]I'm sure we've covered this, but I can't remember what resolution, if any, emerged...a recent bulletin on the site where ... to use in such a case, but should "spammer" itself be plural or singular depending on which disjunction applies?... Comments?...r[/nq]
"One or more spammers is" is what it should be, IMHO.

Franke: EFL te

[nq:1]I'm sure we've covered this, but I can't remember what resolution, if any, emerged...a recent bulletin on the site where ... to use in such a case, but should "spammer" itself be plural or singular depending on which disjunction applies?... Comments?...r[/nq]
Once Aeneas was trying (successfully) to convince Charon that he was not like the other mortals who, after being ferried across, h

CyberCypher infrared:
[nq:2]I'm sure we've covered this, but I can't remember what ... be plural or singular depending on which disjunction applies?... Comments?...r[/nq]
[nq:1]"One or more spammers is" is what it should be, IMHO.[/nq]
But spammers are a lot more plural than ordinary people.

Peter Moylan (Email Removed)

Martin Ambuhl filted:
[nq:1]Once Aeneas was trying (successfully) to convince Charon that he was not like the other mortals who, after being ferried ... guide explained this to Aeneas in a singularly singular string of words: "Haec omnis, quam cernis, inops inhumataque turba est."[/nq]
Is that truly singular, or is it that souls become noncount when you mash enough of them together?...the

[nq:1]Martin Ambuhl filted:[/nq]
[nq:2]Once Aeneas was trying (successfully) to convince Charon that he ... of words: "Haec omnis, quam cernis, inops inhumataque turba est."[/nq]
[nq:1]Is that truly singular, or is it that souls become noncount when you mash enough of them together?...the latter dovetails nicely with my own chosen view of the afterlife....r[/nq]
And mine of the present

(Email Removed) (Peter Moylan) wrote on 17 Feb 2004:
[nq:1]CyberCypher infrared:[/nq]
[nq:1]But spammers are a lot more plural than ordinary people.[/nq]
Multiple personalities, I'd say. You're right. But the subject of the sentence seems to be "One", as in "{One spammer, or more (spammers), / One or more spammers} is sending . . ." I see the "or more" acting as "as well as" in "John a

)
[nq:2]The priestess guide explained this to Aeneas in a singularly singular string of words: "Haec omnis, quam cernis, inops inhumataque turba est."[/nq]
[nq:1]Is that truly singular, or is it that souls become noncount when you mash enough of them together?[/nq]
Well, , the focus of the line, is grammatically singular, as is every quoted word. Professor Goold's translation is: "All

CyberCypher filted:
[nq:1]It just doesn't sound right to me to say "One or more spammers are sending . . ." but I have no problem with "One or two spammers are dead".[/nq]
Syntactically or morally?...r

J. W. Love filted:
[nq:1]Well, , the focus of the line, is grammatically singular, as is every quoted word. Professor Goold's translation is: "All this crowd that you see is helpless and graveless."[/nq]
This "omnis" is singular in English too; Ted Lewis wasn't known for calling out "are everybody happy?"...r

[nq:2]But spammers are a lot more plural than ordinary people.[/nq]
[nq:1]Multiple personalities, I'd say. You're right. But the subject of the sentence seems to be "One", as in "{One spammer, ... to me than the other. Sometimes the difference between acceptable and unacceptable (or, at least, better and worse) is sound.[/nq]
This is a well-known bug in English grammar.
When conjunctio