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Comment by okeuro49 | Hacker News Reader

"informations" is a good one for non-native English language speakers to look out for.

But did you know that there huge load of "datas" out there?

That one's a bit mean given that data does have a distinct plural, it just happens to be spelled the same because whoever came up with english didn't really grok the phonetic alphabet.

Datum is the singular, which is one point of data. When you group together a datum with another datum, they become data.

Data can be used as a plural or as a mass noun. When it is a mass noun it is treated as singular. Hence we say "data is hard to come by" versus "data are hard to come by."

Also datums is the plural of datum when it is used in an engineering sense, which is the most likely place one would still encounter it.

And the origin of that plural form comes from Latin.

>That one's a bit mean given that data does have a distinct plural, it just happens to be spelled the same because whoever came up with english didn't really grok the phonetic alphabet.

Isn't 'data' already plural, with 'datum' being the singular of the plural 'data'?

As is “codes” - I hear this often from non-native colleagues

With regard to source code(s), I hear it exclusively from scientists, regardless of nationality.

None of the coders I've worked with (and I'm in Berlin) have put the s on the end of code.

Quite a few will use "he" to describe inanimate objects, though: "I spilled coffee on the table and now he is wet", that kind of thing.

(This is still better than my German, which is embarassing given how long I've been here)

I think it makes sense, like a scientist might think of their codes as discrete things, because one code was written for each experiment. The work-product is the experiment, the codes are just little things that make it happen.

In scientific computing, they tend to say "code" where the rest of us would say "program".

Programs? I rarely hear it these days. It's all "apps". ;)

This one is honestly confusing.

* Error codes — correct.

* Their personal codes — correct.

* Multiple codes of conduct — correct.

And then computer code is used roughly like the noun 'writing' except you can say writings where appropriate.

The difference lies in how we conceptualize the noun:

- Computer code is seen as a continuous substance or body of work, like "writing" or "music."

- Other types of codes are seen as discrete units or systems.

It's similar to how we say "information" (uncountable) but "facts" (countable), even though they're related concepts.

Yes, code is a substance, like sand or iron. The system is built out of code (not codes), just like the table is built out of wood (not woods).

Hearing someone talk about ‘codes’ has the same weird vibe as when they talk about ‘Legos’.

Source codes of dependencies. Might be acceptable...

Also why not pluralise all words? Sources codes.

Hearing "codes" generally means you've found yourself around Fortran. Simple as.

Nonsense. Informations has long been used in English. I have before me a letter by Albert Einstein to Norbert Wiener regarding a young Kurt Eisemann, in which Einstein writes, "From his letter enclosed here, you will get informations about his life and studies before he arrived here." And in the Princeton translation of Aristotle's Constitution of Athens one finds, "The Eleven also bring up informations laid against magistrates alleged to be disqualified". Informations is perhaps a bit obscure but it's perfectly valid.

Well, for what I red, Einstein primary language stayed German all life through (Information/Informationen). And he learned English rather late in life, starting at 34 apparently.[1] And while not speaking German, he was more likely to practice some Italian as a spontaneous expression desire (informazione/informazioni) and did practice French well enough to give a lecture in this latter language (information/informations).

[1] https://www.lingalot.com/what-languages-did-albert-einstein-...

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