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This joke [https://hachyderm.io/@inthehands/111511784701760258] and @AdrianRiskin’s reply [https://kolektiva.social/@AdrianRiskin/111511809273857650] got me thinking:
What •linguistic• pitfalls commonly trip up students / beginners / newcomers in software, math, and stats? I’m looking for ground-level stuff, not esoterica, e.g.:
matrix / matrices
vertex / vertices
parenthesis / parentheses
“code” is a mass noun, no plural
“data” is a mass noun when it refers to bits/bytes (but “datum” still exists in stats/science contexts, tricky one)
What else?
@inthehands @AdrianRiskin I don't have an additional one, but I've got an example that puzzled me this week: someone who consistently said "verticee" for singular and "vertexes" for plural.
I was all "That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works."
@michaelc @AdrianRiskin
Yes, the singular back-formations “verticee” and “parenthesee” are endemic! They might even be a language change in program, like “tamale.” (The Spanish word is “tamal;” English “tamale” is a back-formation from the Spanish plural “tamales.”)
@inthehands @AdrianRiskin Oh, interesting. I didn't know that, but it makes sense from the Latin I know.