OT: the data are irksome

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≪No one gets too worked up when "data" morphs into a singular noun.
But start messing with our letters, and all hell breaks loose. ≫
"... morphs into..." Ugh! "The port transitions to full duplex mode" is
another one that irks me. Should be "... changes to ..."
I used to be bothered when "data" became a singular noun, but I gave up
defending an obviously lost cause. "The data are correct" begins to
sound pedantic these days. "Media" is the next one, I'm afraid. I'm
still defending that one.
Networkers often talk about "growing a network" when they mean, and
ought to say, "enlarging". You grow a beard or a lawn, not a network.