On Mon, 2 Mar 2009 13:32:13 -0800 (PST), Nancy2 wrote:

> On Mar 2, 2:46 pm, (Steve Pope) wrote:
>> bob > wrote:
>>>>Sorry, I was lapsing into U.K. English again.
>>>Is it correct in "U.K. English" to refer to a university with, not
>>>only a personal pronoun, but a plural personal pronoun? I don't think
>>>so ...
>>
>> It is most definitely correct in UK English to use the plural
>> pronoun in situations where an American would use the singular.
>> So whereas an American might say "Dire Straits is performing
>> at RFK Stadium" a Brit would say "Dire Straits are performing
>> at Wembley".
>>
>> I'm a little less certain about the personal vs. impersonal
>> pronoun choices. But it seems to me if you are using the
>> plural, that almost implies you'd choose the personal pronoun --
>> if the sentence required one.
>>
>> Steve
>
> Apparently, US English doesn't like rules. To say "Dire Straits
> are..." is odd, because they are a group and the name is a proper
> name, so it seems natural to say, "Dire Straits is performing." On
> the other hand, we say "The Beatles are...." instead of "The Beatles
> is. Hmmm.
>
> N.

english is an unruly beast, no matter where it is spoken. (thank god for
that, it makes it more fun.)

your pal,
blake