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#62495 03/27/02 06:05 PM
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Arsenal IS a team.

From BBC Sport http://makeashorterlink.com/?V37B5579

Arsenal seal an FA Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough after beating Newcastle United 3-0 at Highbury. (Italics mine)


#62496 03/27/02 08:04 PM
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Pooh-Bah
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I guess BBC English ain't what it used to be!


#62497 03/28/02 07:24 AM
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To me this is very interesting question, since it is one among the most common mistakes I do in English.
The fact is that in Italian POPOLO is definitely singular, so that I have to force myself everytime I have to use verbs with people.
P.S. This is my post number 199 ! Just one more to be... what? I don't remember, I will see..


#62498 03/28/02 12:04 PM
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Bean Offline OP
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Dear emanuela,

Although popolo sounds like people I think that gente is more equivalent to people.


#62499 03/28/02 01:05 PM
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Just for the record. If one were taking a standardized test, multiple choice, and the question was "Which of the following words is the plural of the word person:

a. persons
b. people
c. personae
d. personal"

...the correct answer would be a. persons.

Best regards,
WordWorries


#62500 03/28/02 01:14 PM
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I realize that. But no one in everyday speech says "persons" when they mean "people", that's all I was trying to get at. It just seemed odd to me, when I thought about it a bit the other morning at breakfast!


#62501 03/28/02 01:16 PM
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...the correct answer would be e. whatever the test writer thought was the correct answer.


#62502 03/28/02 04:25 PM
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...the plural of the word person:

a. persons
b. people
c. personae
d. personal

...would be a. persons



As in The Mikado, Act I:

KO. Allow me to present you, Pooh-Bah. These are my three wards. The one in the middle is my bride elect.

POOH. What do you want me to do to them? Mind, I will not kiss them.

KO. No, no, you shan't kiss them; a little bow--a mere nothing--you needn't mean it, you know.

POOH. It goes against the grain. They are not young ladies, they are young persons.

---------

Quite the opposite, it would seem, of the OED definition in which
" person denotes 'rank or character' and also says 'an individual of high rank, distinction or importance.' " a "personage of noble rank and title," as Gilbert had said earlier.

A sense of irony has apparently developed over time.


#62503 04/03/02 05:08 AM
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I think we have to differentiate between two different meanings of people.

1. people = ethnic/tribal group, nation (can be singular or plural) So "we are a people" is as unproblematic as "we are a nation". Rather old-fashioned now perhaps.

A great people will arise in the West.
The peoples who poured over the Rhine were fleeing from invaders further East.

2. people = humans in general (plural)
I think most people agree.
People have been known to plummet to their deaths from high buildings.



Bingley


Bingley
#62504 04/03/02 02:52 PM
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Let me add a third
3. people seeming to be the plural of person/individual (i.e., not humans in general):
I saw two people on the other side of the street.


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