crazymello Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 There is never an "A" in the word Crossmen. Not even when speaking about one individual member. Crossman sounds like a horribly thought out super hero that doesn't market well at all. Playing with better tone than a principle chair of the greatest symphony, louder than godzilla, higher than a dogwhistle.... IT'S CROSSMAN! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AverageJoe Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 No. Yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hrothgar15 Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 This is grammatically correct with the implied antecedent of "the members of Phantom Regiment." However, if your antecedent is only "Phantom Regiment:" "It is the defending 2008 DCI World Champion." N.B that Champion is singular. If you strip away modifiers, you get "Phantom Regiment is the champion." It all depends on how you decide to phrase it. Both are acceptable in colloquial language; however, I would think the latter, singular phrasing would be preferred in a more formal setting. I obviously realize this, but you should never refer to any drum corps as "it." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faramirtook Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 (edited) I obviously realize this, but you should never refer to any drum corps as "it." Why not? If the entire group acts as one, it is a singular unit. "The Hawthorne Caballeros Drum and Bugle Corps is the winningest drum corps in history." "The hornline is arcing up on the other field." "The corps are divided as to whether or not they like the new instructor." Here is where the plural is used. "Phantom Regiment is in total agreement that this section needs the most work." If you want to get into the issue of which forms are most commonly used, I'd stick with a descriptivist approach and accept both, because both are easily understandable. Edited October 27, 2008 by faramirtook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hrothgar15 Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 (edited) Why not? Because that's not what we do in English. Obviously I'm arguing from a descriptivist point of view, which dictates that the only forms that are wrong are the ones that are not widely used in any significantly large speech community. If you can find an example of a speech community across the board that considers referring to a drum corps as "it" acceptable, I'll kindly reconsider. Edited October 27, 2008 by Hrothgar15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faramirtook Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Because that's not what we do in English. Obviously I'm arguing from a descriptivist point of view, which dictates that the only forms that are wrong are the ones that are not widely used in any significantly large speech community. If you can find an example of a speech community across the board that considers referring to a drum corps as "it" acceptable, I'll kindly reconsider. Both forms are fluently used interchangeably, in my observation. But I'll agree with you, the plural dominates so long as the word "corps" is not the simple subject. Like this: "The Buccaneers are..." which relates to "They are..." "This corps is..." "The Hawthorne Caballeros Drum and Bugle Corps is from northeastern New Jersey." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitedawn Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 wait, though... what are the rules for corps whose names are not, in and of themselves plural? example: "Phantom Regiment was fantastic tonight. They were outstanding." who on earth is "they"? the object is singular, unlike "The Cavaliers were fantastic tonight. They were outstanding."? alternatively, though, we describe all corps as "the corps," as in "The corps was great tonight." who invented this nonsense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hrothgar15 Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 (edited) wait, though... what are the rules for corps whose names are not, in and of themselves plural? example: "Phantom Regiment was fantastic tonight. They were outstanding." who on earth is "they"? the object is singular, unlike "The Cavaliers were fantastic tonight. They were outstanding."? alternatively, though, we describe all corps as "the corps," as in "The corps was great tonight." who invented this nonsense? "They" is often singular as in, "Whenever I tell someone a joke, they laugh," or "Which person in the room has their homework?" Edited October 27, 2008 by Hrothgar15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nex Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Or...an adverb... "I can't believe this is here." Wouldn't "here" be a noun in this case? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Kirby Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 "They" is often singular as in, "Whenever I tell someone a joke, they laugh," or "Which person in the room has their homework?" Prescriptivists of the world, unite! You each have nothing to lose but your plurality. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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