On Mon, 23 Dec 2013 20:59:16 +0000, Stephen wrote:

> On 23/12/2013 6:01 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>>> Or if you live in a media vacuum. :-)
>>
>> Well, some people do manage to avoid spoilers for a while, so I thought
>> I'd be courteous. ;)
>>
>>
> You are right, of course.
> But even I heard about the ending.

:)  Yeah, it probably is pretty well known by now.

>>> Sorry, it was a TV play. Every now and again a drama budget is spent
>>> on drama.
>>
>> Well, yeah, but even still - the development process is similar to
>> actual theatre productions.
>>
> There is an obvious difference between drama and the usual.

Yep.

>> No, not taking it personally at all - over here, there is a rather
>> strong belief that people get the punishments they deserve.  Which is
>> odd, because just as with Walt in BB, it's rarely the case.  Justice
>> wouldn't have been death, it would've been a long time in prison,
>> knowing his family hated him.
>>
>> But don't forget that we don't expect the wealthy to pay for their
>> misdeeds either.  We call people who get to a position of wealth and
>> power who get away with stuff "successful".  Makes me sick.
>>
>>
> We will have you singing the Red Flag, yet. ;-)

LOL.  Then I'll be hauled before a McCarthy-era panel to prove that I'm 
not a communist or something.

>>> It is a collective noun.
>>> The different branches are singular.
>>
>> Exactly what I was saying.  One might be talking about a singular "math
>> branch."
>>
> Exactly! Then you should call it Arithmetic (not, "you do the math."),
> Geometry, Trigonometry etc.

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math, n.3
View as: Outline |Full entryQuotations: Show all |Hide all
Pronunciation:  Brit.	 /maθ/ , U.S. /mæθ/
Forms:  18– math, 18– math. (with point).
Etymology:  Shortened < mathematics n. (probably originally as graphic 
abbreviation). Compare later maths n. and French math (1880).
N. Amer. colloq.
 
  Mathematics (esp. as a subject of study at school or college).
Cf. maths n.   (the usual British colloquial abbreviation).

--- snip ---

Seems the OED accepts the Americanised version as well as the British 
version. :P

Jim

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