Here's a sentence I just wrote: "The reason Taylor reminds you
of Clinton and the reason it was especially noticeable last
night is because both men are echoing Elvis."John -- my son,
John Althouse Cohen -- responds: Should "is" be "are"? I think
it would sound ridiculous, but rule-based thinking would say
yes. I think it can only be "is," even if you're using "rule-
based thinking." "Are" would just be comical. It would remind me
of the scene in "After Hours" where Griffin Dunne says:The ice
of my "rule-based thinking" is slowly melting. So I march right
in there to apologize, but she'd already killed herself. I was
too late. He was about to give me the money, when all of a
sudden, his phone rang. His girlfriend killed herself tonight.
Is that a coincidence? No, because the same girl who I came
downtown to see was dead, too. That's because they're the same
person. They're both dead. The point is: He was joking by using
the plural and saying, "They're both dead." You can't use "both"
in reference to one person