Re: [O] org-grep, and problems

[James Harkins]

On Oct 15, 2013 2:19 AM, "Jonathan Leech-Pepin" <address@hidden> wrote:.
> > I'm voting for "none of the bosses is going to attend."
>
> None is a bit of an odd case, since it reflects the plurality of the associated noun.

I don't want to drag it out much further as it's well off topic, but... I did some checking and found (for the most part) that what I said *used* to be true, but that the usage has been shifting for a good century or two (to allow "none" to be plural). So I concede that point (and learned something today, which I like).

From the few grammar sites I checked, it seems that a plural "none" is definitely accepted in speech and informal writing. One site mentioned that formal writing may more often call for none to take a singular verb, regardless of the associated noun. But Facebook, twitter and texting have basically killed formal writing already, so, soon even that caveat will be gone.

I did not find any sites claiming that it's mandatory to give "none" a plural verb if it appears with a plural noun. All of those sites at least gave lip service to its origin as "not one of" -- e.g. "not one of the groups is going" -- so my preference for the singular verb is justified, though not my claim that the other is flat-out incorrect.

Thanks... Glad to learn I can cross that one off my grammar police list.

hjh