I'd say it depends. In general use I support it as a singular noun, but in more technical contexts I approve of it being used as a plural. Besides, the word data is already plural in Latin; the singular is datum.
According to Wiktionary the /ɪ/ pronunciation is the older one i.e. both "woman" and "women" were pronounced like the "o" in women. It suggests that the modern pronunciation of "woman" comes from "the rounding influence of the w," whatever that means.
Because otherwise it would be pronounced exactly the same.
What accent do you have where "berry" and "bury" are pronounced differently?
Depends on what map you use. I'll just say east coast US. The real east coast, aka the NE. If you enunciate correctly, those three words sound very similar but not the same.
I never get to use "i.e.", aka "id est", because I choose my words very carefully. Guess I shouldn't of took all those language classes. Then I could use it more often.
Sheeit, we wrung dat boyz neck thought he done brung it. Should'n'a wrought dat havoc. We bouts dem forties shorties 'n' blunts, not no hoity-toity cunts.
People SAY that?
But it's mouse/mice louse/lice. Not grouse/grice though.
yeah, they are pronounced differently.
Moose apparently didn't enter the English language until English came into contact with Algonquin. Goose on the other hand traces its lineage all the way back to the earliest forms of written European languages, before English even separated from the other West Germanic languages (Wiktionary traces it all the way back to Proto-Indo-European).
Similar thing. Grouse is only attested in English from the 16th century. Also, none of the proposed origins come from Proto-West-Germanic (an ancestor of English that mouse derives its history from). So not only is it newer, but it came to Modern English through a different route.
Not according to the OED they aren't.
