Sir, - The use and abuse of Latin neuter plurals, now ensconced in English, seem fated to bedevil newspaper editors and to arouse language purists ("Singular error", November 18th, December 2nd).
Prominent among such are datum/data, agendum/agenda, memorandum/memoranda, bacterium/ bacteria, candelabrum/candelabra, and, of course, the celebrated medium/media. According to one dated authority, words such as these are used by "the half-educated" as if the plurals were singulars.
Long ago, when Latin as a language was learned at the breast (a phrase of Dante's) instead of in the classroom, Roman purists were similarly aghast at the development of new feminine singulars from the neuter plurals.
Language, whether hoary Latin or with-it English, reflects our own inconsistencies and proves the wisdom of the proverb that "the more things change, the more they remain the same." - Yours, etc., E Leo McMannus,
Venice, Florida.