Talk:US Marine Corps blame deadly Morocco Osprey plane crash on pilots

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Review of revision 1590744 [Passed][edit]

Title??[edit]

Someone check my logic here...........the US Marine Corps is a proper noun, right?? Therefore, IT blames.......it isn't THEY blame, right??

US Marine Corps blames.......... --Bddpaux (talk) 18:36, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I long ago gave up on ever understanding this. As far as I can tell, approximately half of people will tell you groups of people are plurals, and half will agree with you that they are singulars (one organisation). Maybe it's a regional thing, but I've never seen a proper explanation. Pi zero will know, I'll bet. Blood Red Sandman (Talk) (Contribs) 18:42, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
To my understanding, treating a group like this as plural is more common in the UK, though also sometimes found in parts of the US (New England is amongst the usual suspects). I think my own tendency is to treat a group as singular or plural depending on whether it plays the part, in context, of a unit or a collection of individuals.
A plausible point of reference on en.wp might be w:Collective noun#Metonymic merging of grammatical number. --Pi zero (talk) 21:16, 19 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]