A few years ago at a meeting the late David Finney told me he was thinking of forming a new "Society for the Promotion of Statistical Pedantry" and he would be its first President.
He certainly would have been good at the job, but maybe "Statistical Pedanticness" is more up-to-date ?
Graham Healey
Oncimmune Ltd.
-----Original Message-----
From: A UK-based worldwide e-mail broadcast system mailing list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Aisha Olajumoke
Sent: 20 August 2019 16:01
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Die/dice RE: allstat Digest - 19 Aug : UK school exams
@chambers dictionary 20th century.... Very funny Martin
On Tue, 20 Aug 2019, 15:20 Martin Bland, <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Language changes all the time, I agree. The important thing is that
> every body understands the same thing. In this case, I doubt that
> anybody would be misled into thinking that several dice are involved.
> However, I can tell you that my office dictionary, Chambers, defines
> "dice" as the plural of "die". Of course, it is titled "Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary".
>
> Martin
>
> On Tue, 20 Aug 2019 at 15:08, Aisha Olajumoke
> <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> But Professor, everything is open to change. We all know that "die"
>> is correct but it is suggested now by Oxford and Grammarly that
>> "dice" can equally be plural and singular form of the famous 6-sided
>> and 6-numbered cube.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, 20 Aug 2019, 15:02 Martin Bland, <
>> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>> I am one native English speaker who would use "die" in everyday
>>> speech, but I am quite old! Pedantic, perhaps, but "pedantic" is
>>> what somebody who is wrong calls somebody who is right.
>>>
>>> Martin
>>>
>>> On Tue, 20 Aug 2019 at 14:48, Wilson, Paul <[log in to unmask]>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> > Hi all,
>>> > I have to admit that Allan has touched on one of my hobby-horses.
>>> > I believe that in the modern era "die" as the singular of dice is
>>> obsolete,
>>> > or at best archaic. I know of no native English speaker that would
>>> refer to
>>> > "a die" in everyday speech. If you were to stop someone in the
>>> > street
>>> and
>>> > ask them what "a die" is, they would either refer to "dye" for
>>> > hair/clothes, or to something for moulding metal.
>>> >
>>> > A quick bit of googling just now brought me to
>>> > grammarly.com/blog/dice-die/ where it states
>>> >
>>> > "If you look up dice in the Oxford Dictionary, you will learn that
>>> dice is
>>> > an acceptable singular and plural form of die. According to this
>>> source,
>>> > dice was once the plural of die, “but in modern standard English
>>> > dice
>>> is
>>> > both the singular and the plural: ‘throw the dice’ could mean a
>>> reference
>>> > to either one or more than one dice.”
>>> >
>>> > Something I do remember reading in the print version of the Oxford
>>> English
>>> > Dictionary many years back. So my opinion is to applaud the exam
>>> setter who
>>> > had the nerve to jettison an anachronism and say "a dice", like
>>> everyone
>>> > does, but I am sure that others will differ.
>>> >
>>> > Regards
>>> >
>>> > Paul
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Dr. Paul Wilson
>>> > Senior Lecturer in Statistics
>>> > School of Mathematics and Computer Science Faculty of Science and
>>> > Engineering University of Wolverhampton Wulfruna Street
>>> > Wolverhampton
>>> > WV1 1LY
>>> >
>>> > Phone: +44 (0)1902 321444
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > ________________________________________
>>> > From: A UK-based worldwide e-mail broadcast system mailing list [
>>> > [log in to unmask]] on behalf of Allan Reese [
>>> > [log in to unmask]]
>>> > Sent: 20 August 2019 14:29
>>> > To: [log in to unmask]
>>> > Subject: Re: allstat Digest - 19 Aug : UK school exams
>>> >
>>> > As John Bibby notes, the 2019 paper is embargoed except for
>>> > teachers
>>> for
>>> > a year. To continue the SHOCK, HORROR, I looked at an earlier
>>> > Maths/Stats paper in which a question stated someone threw "a dice".
>>> >
>>> > Allan
>>> >
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>>>
>>> --
>>> ***************************************************
>>> J. Martin Bland
>>> Prof. of Health Statistics Emeritus
>>> Dept. of Health Sciences
>>> Seebohm Rowntree Building
>>> University of York
>>> Heslington
>>> York YO10 5DD
>>>
>>> Email: [log in to unmask]
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>>
>
> --
> ***************************************************
> J. Martin Bland
> Prof. of Health Statistics Emeritus
> Dept. of Health Sciences
> Seebohm Rowntree Building
> University of York
> Heslington
> York YO10 5DD
>
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> Phone: 01904 321334 Fax: 01904 321382
> Web site: http://martinbland.co.uk/
>
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