[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Seeking Grammar Police Ruling - Math's

[Alex Hogan]

"What is the mathematic use of "X" in this word problem?"
   
  Alex Hogan
   
  
Geoff Bannister <gbannister10 at tiscali.co.uk> wrote:
          --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "P. Alexis Nguyen" <alexisnguyen at ...> 
wrote:
>
> bboyminn:
> > Oddly, once again, my American Heritage dictionary shows
> >SNIP<
> > but no 'maths'. Though I suspect if I had an Oxford Dictionary
> > things would be different.

Ali: 
> Merriam-Webster (online because I don't own English-English
> dictionaries) shows maths, saying that it's (1) chiefly British and
> (2) function is "noun plural," which is in keeping with standard [US]
> English conventions.

Geoff:
I do have A Concise Oxford Dictionary which begins its definition 
as:
mathematics n.pl. (usually treated as singular). abstract science of 
space and number....

The Reader's Digest word Power Dictionary begins to define the 
same as:
mathematics > plural noun (usu. treated as sing.) the field of 
knowledge concerned with number, quantity and space....

maths (N. Amer. math) > noun short for MATHEMATICS.

However, I challenge anyone to find a UK English speaker - or 
even a US English speaker - who will say "Mathematics are..." And 
can anyone put their finger on a singular use as "Mathematic"?



                           

       

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