[carrie721]

Originally Posted by Ghost_Tracker

True, that's how they do it at Harvard. But in my opinion most professional writers are willing to consider multiple things, grouped together, as one thing -therefore "is" instead of "are."

i don't think you'd be happy with the results of that poll. there are some cases where that's true (my english teacher called it the "macaroni and cheese" rule), but can you really imagine a professional writer (or anyone, really) saying "the earth and the sea and the sky is at rest"?

also, i think it's a really tired stereotype that academics aren't in touch with the "real" world.