Monday
16Jun2008
Geek Grammar – Companies are singular kids
Monday, June 16, 2008 at 07:59PM I’ve noticed a very weird grammar error seemingly prevent only in geek circles. (Maybe it’s happening in the larger English language, but I haven’t seen it general.) It’s a tendency to refer to companies as plurals instead of singular entities. For example:
Google have done XYZ. (Correct grammar: Google has…)
ThoughtWorks are working on ABC. (Correct grammar: ThoughtWorks is…)
Companies are singular, not plural. In the same way that the word “everyone” encompasses a reference to many people but is still singular, proper names for companies are singular. Essentially, there is only one ThoughtWorks. I admit that I make casual grammar mistakes all the time, but because I see this one growing I had to speak out… ;) Stop it my geek friends. Stop it.
Reader Comments (5)
This is the way the British form the verb when used with a company (or any other aggregate noun). As they say, we're separated by a common language.
I suspect that the reason you only notice this 'error' amongst geeks is that the proportion of non-Americans amongst the geeks you interact with is much higher. There's more detail on the differences in this wikipedia article.
Interesting.. When I think about it though, it's not so much among Brits or Europeans, who've ostensibly learned British English, that I hear it.. It's with Americans. Particularly in blog posts. Hmm.. Maybe the Brits are rubbing off on the blogs I read. I'm going to post a follow up when I think this through.
might be because i dont think of a company as a company, i think of the thoughtworkers i've worked with
Hmm... I believe I'm guilty of this.
I'm inclined to think less about a company and more of a collection of individuals. Perhaps when we say "Google have" we're subconsciously thinking of the Googlers and not the Google?