1429: Data

2014-10-17T12:58:34Z

Cscscscs: /* Explanation */ more precise

{{comic
| number = 1429
| date = October 3, 2014
| title = Data
| image = data.png
| titletext = If you want to have more fun at the expense of language pedants, try developing an hypercorrection habit.
}}

==Explanation==

"Kirk vs. Picard" is a debate that many ''{{w|Star Trek}}'' fans engage in — specifically which was a better captain of the {{w|Starship Enterprise|starship ''Enterprise''}} on the TV show. Captain {{w|James T. Kirk}} and {{w|Jean-Luc Picard}} each were captains of the ship in different periods (Kirk was captain of USS ''Enterprise'' (NCC-1701) in {{w|Star Trek: The Original Series|The Original Series}}, while Picard was captain of USS ''Enterprise''-D (NCC-1701-D) in ''{{w|Star Trek: The Next Generation|The Next Generation}}''), but fans argue over who was the "best". Most third-place candidates are pretty distant, resulting in a more multi-faceted debate. Cueball seems to be looking at results of polling for this ''third'' most popular character.

The humor in this comic stems from the fact that the Latin word ''data'' is a plural form of the word ''datum'', and that originally English followed Latin's lead and treated ''data'' as plural. However, in more recent English, usage of ''datum'' has faded to the extent that ''data'' has taken its place as a singular noun. Referring to ''data'' as singular is becoming increasingly (but not universally) accepted as grammatically correct — the ''Wall Street Journal'', for instance, recently announced that it is moving away from saying "data are," while the ''New York Times''' manual of style allows for both variants depending on usage scenario; ''USA Today'', however, is consistently using ''data'' as a plural ("data are"). Naturally, the purists insist on the form that is correct from the Latin grammar point of view and see "data is" as an example of a subject-verb agreement error. This type of "error" is present in the beginning of the sentence that Cueball is citing ("According to this polling data," while certain traditionalists would hold that the grammatically correct variant would be "According to these polling data").

The second error in the same sentence is due to the fact that {{w|Data (Star Trek)|Data}} is a character from ''Star Trek: The Next Generation.'' Since it is a character's name, when used to refer to the character, "Data" should always be treated as singular.

By reversing the verb agreement in both cases, Cueball is going out of his way to annoy grammatically obsessed people.

The title text suggests the mocking of language pedants/amateur {{w|Grammar Nazi|grammar Nazis}} by {{w|Hypercorrection|hypercorrecting}} one's use of language. The sentence itself is an example of this:
* The general rule is that words starting with a consonant should be preceded by ''a,'' while words starting with a vowel should be preceded by ''an.'' However,
* The letter ''h'' is a special case, since in words like ''honor'' (/ˈɒnəɹ/) and ''hour'' (/ˈaʊəɹ/) the ''h'' is silent so the words actually start with a vowel sound, thus leading to the use of ''an.'' But beyond this, there is a [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=3328463#post3328463 specific longstanding controversy] over whether to use ''a'' or ''an'' with words that start with a non-silent ''h'' sound followed by an unstressed vowel, such as ''historical'' and arguably ''hypercorrection'' in the title text. In many accents of English, when these words take the indefinite article, the article ''an'' is used and the ''h'' becomes silent. In others, the article ''a'' is used and the ''h'' remains pronounced.

This comic complements two of the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:My_Hobby My Hobbies] comics [[326: Effect an Effect]] (which discusses the trolling of amateur grammar Nazis) and [[1405: Meteor]] (which mocks pedantry). This comic could also just as well have been labelled as one of [[Randall|Randall's]] Hobbies.

This comic also appears to be an example of {{w|Self-irony|self-irony}} as the author himself has previously exhibited certain inclination to insist on grammatically strict mode of usage of words loaned from Latin. One such example is the fact that [http://fora.xkcd.com/ xkcd's online discussion forums] are called ''fora'' (which is a correct plural nominative form of ''forum'' in Latin).

==Transcript==
:[Cueball reading off a smart phone to someone off the panel]
:Cueball: According to this polling data, after Kirk and Picard, the most popular Star Trek character are Data.
:Off-panel character: Augh!
:Annoy grammar pedants on all sides by making "data" singular except when referring to the android.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Language]]

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1429: Data