Anybody else notice Petraeus' use of the term "trooper" vs "troop"?

[housewolf]

I'm glad to see that he has at least something correct!

Trooper = individuals
Troop = a group of individuals (for instance, a boy or girl scout troop or an army brigade)

The use of the term "troop" to refer to a single individual irks me every time I hear it. For instance, it is never the case that "we lost 5 troops today" or "4 troops killed in ambush". "Troop" is a collective noun, meaning that it applies to a group. "Trooper", "soldier", "marine", "sailor" are examples of singular nouns that apply to a single individual.

I may not agree with Petraeus on much else, but I'm glad to hear him refer to those who are under his command correctly.



/Rant off/
:rant:

[pkz]

1. Thank you!

I thought I was the only one that ever noticed that.

The news readers on CNN, MSNBC, and FauxNews constantly make the same mistake, and it drives me crazy.

[rateyes]

2. Hell, then, if we've lost over 4000 TROOPS.....

That's a helluva lot more troopers.

[housewolf]

7. You got it, Rateyes!

n/t

[EFerrari]

3. I knew that but am so used to hearing the wrong usage

I'd forgotten. Argh.

[napoleon_in_rags]

4. Thanks for the reminder. I've screwed that up a lot. nt

[NNN0LHI]

5. I also noticed he called the Iraqi people he is slaughtering en mass the enemy

Very Nazi of him. They probably are his enemy.

Don

[screembloodymurder]

6. As in Storm-troopers?

These guys are trained by Nazi's.