The Borg *is* everywhere...?
- Thread starter Hey Missy
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Maddened by grief, Riker has decided to homage the lost Captain Picard by using the British style of treating collective nouns as single entities rather than the American practice of conjugating them as plurals. Sadly, his mind is too far gone to recall that Picard was actually French.
Q did it once too
Q: The Borg is the ultimate user. They're unlike any threat your Federation has ever faced. They're not interested in political conquest, wealth or power as you know it. They're simply interested in your ship, its technology. They've identified it as something they can consume.
Using is instead of are when treating something as a collective noun. http://www.dictionary.com/e/collective-nouns/
Q: The Borg is the ultimate user. They're unlike any threat your Federation has ever faced. They're not interested in political conquest, wealth or power as you know it. They're simply interested in your ship, its technology. They've identified it as something they can consume.
Using is instead of are when treating something as a collective noun. http://www.dictionary.com/e/collective-nouns/
As long as we are discussing proper use of plural and singular, since the word "data" is plural of Latin "datum," then every time Data's name is used, it should also be treated as a plural.
Encounter at Farpoint: "Commander Data are on special assignment, sir."
When the Bough Breaks: "Captain, Data have found something interesting."
The High Ground: "Doctor, Commander Data have informed me of your situation."
The Schizoid Man: "Data are an orphan in a manner of speaking."
Rascals: "Mister Data are coordinating the salvage efforts now."
Kor
Encounter at Farpoint: "Commander Data are on special assignment, sir."
When the Bough Breaks: "Captain, Data have found something interesting."
The High Ground: "Doctor, Commander Data have informed me of your situation."
The Schizoid Man: "Data are an orphan in a manner of speaking."
Rascals: "Mister Data are coordinating the salvage efforts now."
Kor
The Borg have a collective consciousness, and (at least in theory) an undivided will and purpose. So in a certain sense, it can be referred to as a single entity (a super-organism), dispersed over many points in space.
I'm not saying I necessarily believe this myself, but it might be a way of looking at it. At any rate, I never found this singular reference that weird, the state the Borg collective is in is probably beyond our deteministic classifications such as 'singular' and 'plural'.
I'm not saying I necessarily believe this myself, but it might be a way of looking at it. At any rate, I never found this singular reference that weird, the state the Borg collective is in is probably beyond our deteministic classifications such as 'singular' and 'plural'.
I don't think Riker had time to think about grammar at that point. 
The word data may be based on a plural but now it refers more to a pooled resource like 'Water'.
The word data may be based on a plural but now it refers more to a pooled resource like 'Water'.
"ADMIRAL! THERE BE DEERS HERE!"But do you say "There's deer on the road" or "There're deer on the road"?
The Borg is everywhere
The Borg is everything
The Borg is everybody
The Borg is still the king
The Borg is everything
The Borg is everybody
The Borg is still the king
Because, originally, the Borg was a single entity. Made up of parts that formed the whole.
This all reminds me of the US vs UK between giving group entities singular vs plural status. English as a language is a little more convoluted to begin with, sure, but a company is still a group of people so the UK gets it wrong when its citizens conflate the two and treats a singular entity as if it were plural, so .
This all reminds me of the US vs UK between giving group entities singular vs plural status. English as a language is a little more convoluted to begin with, sure, but a company is still a group of people so the UK gets it wrong when its citizens conflate the two and treats a singular entity as if it were plural, so
.
Makes me think of this old TV Guide cover from when "Scorpion" aired: https://www.amazon.com/Guide-10-16-1997-Borg-Back/dp/B000YO72QM
THE BORG IS BACK!
THE BORG IS BACK!
It's the other way around. In British usage, collective entities (firms, agencies, organizations and the like) are construed as plural. The Brits say "Ford have announced a new model" or "the Labour Party were defeated."
Americans generally use singular verbs with collective entities, even when the subject is plural in form. We say "United Artists presents . . ." and "General Motors is laying off workers."
And nouns don't conjugate; verbs conjugate. Nouns decline.
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naa that rule don't count if it's a name.
PULASKI: Da(h)ta, look at this.
DATA: Data.
PULASKI: What?
DATA: My name. It is pronounced Data.
PULASKI: Oh?
DATA: You called me Da(h)ta.
PULASKI: What's the difference?
DATA: One is my name. The other is not.
Just like that rule doesn't apply either
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