&gt;Data is a plural count noun not, standardly speaking, a mass noun. [Note: &quot;Data is rarely used as a plural today, just as candelabra and agenda long ago ceased to be plurals,&quot; Pinker writes. &quot;But I still like it.&quot;]<p>So... if a meaning is &quot;rarely used today&quot;, and the author admits it&#x27;s just personal preference, surely it shouldn&#x27;t be on the list? I&#x27;ve seen some serious contortions in academic papers that try to use &#x27;data&#x27; as a mass noun but still pedantically write &quot;data are&quot; instead of &quot;data is&quot;. I&#x27;ve concluded at this point it&#x27;s essentially an academic shibboleth.