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jazz, I think the point is that (OTOH) you don't say "the team are us"?
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Not that absurd. Sounds like an everyday occurrence for this particular board!Ah so... but what else can you expect from a board ruled by Ænigma, that fun-loving, sui generis, eminence grise? 
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old hand
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old hand
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jazz, I think the point is that (OTOH) you don't say "the team are us"?
No, I wouldn't say that either. This is obviously a case, and there are many more, in which a plural noun mysteriously becomes a singular noun. It's an act of unification. "We are a team" reinforces the maxim "There is no 'I' in 'team'."
P.S. What's this new acronym of yours (OTOH)?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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P.S. What's this new acronym of yours (OTOH)?
OTOH - there are four fingers and a thumb. 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Anna, The idea is, if it's a discussion, to say Board members disagreed among themselves. Or,in the case of a split vote, The board members disagreed with each other. I stand by the neuter its! It's hard wired from years of newspapering.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Wow, I gather you have much more newspaper experience than I. I've since given journalism up for longer than Lent, but put in a total of 20 yrs between paper and wire service reporting and editing. Now that I've stated my credentials , my question is this: I stil feel there are times when the plural is appropriate; e.g., "My family are spending Christmas in different places this year." Would you rewrite that to say, for example, "The members of my family are..." ?
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veteran
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veteran
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Would you rewrite that to say, for example, "The members of my family are..." ?Annatie, Agreed that over this side of the Pond we often use singular nouns as plurals when they refer to composites. I don't have a problem with that, though (shanks) as it's just an abbreviated reference. I could refer to my family as a unit - "my family is very close" or I could refer to it as a composite - "my family live in a variety of different places". I suppose in the latter case I would implicitly be saying " the members of my family", but that's unwieldy. Sometimes it's more appropriate to refer to a company as a plural, when you want to emphasize the implicit "we" for instance. There you go, an example of Brits removing something not essential to understanding! Wonders never cease
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Carpal Tunnel
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AnnaS, dear heart, over 40 years plus born into a newspapering family. If anyone meets the criteria, it can be fairly said I have ink in my veins. That said, I am no expert a'tall a'tall...just a lot of experience.
There's another old saying in the business "There's no such thing as nine years experience on a beat, just three years experience repeated three times!"
I agree with that sentiment in relation to myself. The work is the same the Rolodex (Rolodexes? Rolodexi?) just get bigger! Aloha, WOW
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Carpal Tunnel
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I forgot to answer your question. I think I'd re-cast. This is one of those questions I have heard argued over many times during the years ... like the old USAF riddle about the canary. Endles. ALoha, WOW
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Pooh-Bah
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>"the team are us"
Is that from the same part of speech as the phrase "Toys Are Us"?! (couldn't find backwards R)
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