The Olympics

The Olympics is, but the Olympic Games are.

—The Wall Street Journal

Variety: A Deceptively Plural Noun

▶️ A variety of words are found in religious services.

▶️ A variety of equipment is attached.

Thank you, Bryan Garner.

his or her

In his latest Fox News column, Radley Balko writes:

It seems to me that a good remedy for most of today's contentious issues is to let everyone live his or her life as they please, so long as they do no harm to anyone else.

I find this sentence interesting, because the word "everyone" is singular, not plural, so it should paired with "he" rather than "they." However, since Radley uses the p.c. construction of "his or her," rather than the succincter and harmless "he," I think "they" is appropriate.

congress

"Scalia's dissent made Congress look like the patsies that they had been throughout the Guantánamo detentions."

"Congress" is singular, not plural, so if you want to keep the word "patsies," you need to change "Congress" to "members of Congress."

Who Can Check the President? [NYTM]