> Here is some more food for thought:
>
> From
>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences#Formal_and_notional_agreement:>
> Formal and notional agreement
> In BrE, collective nouns can take either singular (formal agreement) or
> plural (notional agreement) verb forms, according to whether the emphasis
> is, respectively, on the body as a whole or on the individual members;
> compare a committee was appointed ... with the committee were unable to
> agree ...[5][6] Compare also Elvis Costello's song, Oliver's Army is here
> to stay / Oliver's Army are on their way. Some of these nouns, for example
> staff,[7] actually combine with plural verbs most of the time.
>
> In AmE, collective nouns are usually singular in construction: the
> committee was unable to agree ... AmE however may use plural pronouns in
> agreement with collective nouns: the team take their seats, rather than
> the
> team takes its seat(s). However, such a sentence would most likely be
> recast as the team members take their seats.
>
> The difference occurs for all nouns of multitude, both general terms such
> as team and company and proper nouns (for example, where a place name is
> used to refer to a sports team). For instance,
>
> BrE: The Clash are a well-known band; AmE: The Clash is a well known band.
> BrE: Indianapolis are the champions; AmE: Indianapolis is the champion.
>
> Proper nouns which are plural in form take a plural verb in both AmE and
> BrE; for example, The Beatles are a well-known band; The Colts are the
> champions.
>
>
> From
http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/020.html:>
> Grammar: Traditional Rules, Word Order, Agreement, and Case
>
> ¡± 20. collective noun
> Some nouns, like committee, clergy, enemy, group, family, and team, refer
> to a group but are singular in form. These nouns are called collective
> nouns. In American usage, a collective noun takes a singular verb when it
> refers to the collection considered as a whole, as in The family was
> united
> on this question or The enemy is suing for peace. It takes a plural verb
> when it refers to the members of the group considered as individuals, as
> in
> My family are always fighting among themselves or The enemy were showing
> up
> in groups of three or four to turn in their weapons. In British usage,
> collective nouns are more often treated as plurals: The government have
> not
> announced a new policy. The team are playing in the test matches next
> week.
> Be careful not to treat a collective noun as both singular and plural in
> the same construction. Thus you should say The family is determined to
> press its (not their) claim. 2
> Collective nouns always refer to living creatures. Similar inanimate
> nouns, such as furniture and luggage, differ in that they cannot be
> counted
> individually. That is why you cannot buy a furniture or a luggage. These
> nouns are usually called mass nouns or noncount nouns. They always take a
> singular verb: The bedroom furniture was on sale.
>
>
> From
http://www.bartleby.com/68/46/246.html:>
> AGREEMENT OF SUBJECTS AND VERBS 2: COLLECTIVE NOUN PHRASES FOLLOWED BY
> PLURAL NOUNS
>
> Proximity (attraction), notional agreement, and logic conspire here to
> make
> the verb choice plural: A number of us are going to attend. A flock of
> starlings were making loud conversation. But at Conversational levels the
> doubts of the speaker and in Edited English the stylebook¡¦s unwavering
> rule
> that subjects and verbs must agree in number can sometimes produce the
> singular: A pair of hits in the bottom of the ninth usually turns the
> trick. Either singular or plural is Standard in such constructions,
> although the plural usually seems more natural and comfortable.
>
> From
http://www.bartleby.com/68/28/4128.html:>
> NOTIONAL AGREEMENT (NOTIONAL CONCORD)
>
> is the agreement or concord of verbs with their subjects and of pronouns
> with their antecedent nouns on the basis of meaning rather than form. If
> you think of committee as one entity, then The committee has its agenda;
> if
> you think of committee as representing several people, then The committee
> have their agenda. Notional agreement gives us sentences like these from
> British English: The government are eager to compromise. Manchester United
> are ahead, three to nil. Americans would use is in both sentences, having
> different notions of the entities government and athletic team. And these
> from American English also illustrate: My admiration and love for her is
> without limit. Everybody has their own opinion of the proposal. All these
> are usage problems because although no one is confused about what they
> mean, strict grammatical agreement of plurals with plural forms and
> singulars with singular forms doesn¡¦t occur. Edited English tries usually
> to avoid these last structures, and many a Standard-using reader will find
> fault with them whenever they notice them. If you saw that one (reader ¡K
> they), then you are probably quite able to police your own writing for
> agreement problems; if you missed it, you must decide whether your readers
> will accept a particular notional agreement without objection or whether
> they will insist absolutely on full grammatical concord.
>
> From
http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/grammar/archive/collective_nouns.html:>
> Swan (Practical English Usage, New Edition, Oxford University Press, 1997)
> elaborates on this singular/plural usage, and disagrees about treating
> collective nouns as both singular and plural in the same construction:
>
> "In British English, singular words like family, team, government, which
> refer to groups of people, can be used with either singular or plural
> verbs
> and pronouns.
>
> This team is/are going to lose.
> Plural forms are common when the group is considered as a collection of
> people doing personal things like deciding, hoping or wanting; and in
> these
> cases we use who, not which, as a relative pronoun. Singular forms (with
> which as a relative pronoun) are more common when the group is seen as an
> impersonal unit. Compare:
>
> My family have decided to move to Nottingham. They think it's a better
> place to live.
> The average British family has 3.6 members. It is smaller and richer than
> 50 years ago.
> The government, who are hoping to ease export restrictions soon, ¡K
> The government, which is elected by a simple majority, ¡K
> My firm are wonderful. They do all they can for me.
> My firm was founded in the 18th century.
> When a group noun is used with a singular determiner (e.g. a/an, each,
> every, this, that), singular verbs and pronouns are normal. Compare:
>
> The team are full of enthusiasm.
> A team which is full of enthusiasm has a better chance of winning.
> Sometimes singular and plural forms are mixed:
>
> The group gave its first concert in June and they are already booked up
> for
> the next six months.
> Examples of group nouns which can be used with both singular and plural
> verbs in British English:
>
> bank
> the BBC
> choir
> class
> club
> committee
> England (e.g. the football team)
> family
> firm
> government
> jury
> ministry
> orchestra
> party
> public
> school
> staff
> team
> union
> In American English singular verbs are normally used with most of these
> nouns in all cases (though family can have a plural verb). Plural pronouns
> can be used:
>
> The team is in Detroit this weekend. They have a good chance of winning."
> pp. 526-527
>
> --
> Cheers
> Robert
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 09:48:12 +0300, Graham Mayor wrote:
>
>> Can be and often is, but I don't believe it was ever correct. I guess
> this
>> is just another case of evolving usage.