Take the tour ×  How a sentence sounds when read aloud or in
your head can often "sound" different for each individual doing
so; however, I was reading details regarding the usage of "data"
and "datum" and was intrigued by the alleged usage of it and how
said usage flowed within a sentence/phrase.  It is explained
here that the word data should not be used as,  ...the data
tells us...  but rather,  ...the data tell us...  Reading the
first seems natural, I've heard it quite often; however, the
second seems very hard to read or say - simply unnatural in my
mouth. A similar situation is found with Hoi Polloi where it is
incorrect to say,  ...gone to meet with the hoi polloi...  but
often corrected to,  ...gone to meet with hoi polloi...  due to
the redundancy of the term "the" (where Hoi Polloi meaning "The
Many").  While my specific usage of these two situations may not
be finely crafted, I believe the concept/question to be evident:
Is it better to appease my audience by using a commonly used
phrasing, or is