
The 58 most commonly misused words and phrases - outputchannel
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-58-most-commonly-misused-words-and-phrases-a6754551.html
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dTal
>Data is a plural count noun not, standardly speaking, a mass noun. [Note:
"Data is rarely used as a plural today, just as candelabra and agenda long ago
ceased to be plurals," Pinker writes. "But I still like it."]

So... if a meaning is "rarely used today", and the author admits it's just
personal preference, surely it shouldn't be on the list? I've seen some
serious contortions in academic papers that try to use 'data' as a mass noun
but still pedantically write "data are" instead of "data is". I've concluded
at this point it's essentially an academic shibboleth.

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Retra
>Cliché is a noun and is not an adjective.

I wouldn't call this 'misuse', but evolution.

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dTal
As the article notes by example, we have an adjective form already -
"cliched". Overloading a word when you already have another perfectly good one
results in a strict reduction in language usefulness (even if the effect is
minor in this case).

