THE WORLD IN A SILVER FOX COAT

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

This might well be titled "The Fable of the Fox and the Gripes," but that sounds too corny, so I put it as a letter to the Editor. On Nov. 3, Mr. John Fox, Harvard '29, and now publisher of the Boston Post, ran one of his front page editorials. He said: "The world, by and large, are of the opinion that at any given time in the course of history, it is not possible to predict the future doings of the Kremlin slave-masters. The world believe that until events . . ."

As an instructor in journalism at a nearby girls' school in Newton, I was naturally interested in the use of the word "world" by Publisher Fox. As a former reporter for the Post, I felt impelled to write him a letter asking his authority for the plural verb with his singular noun.

His answer is cryptic, as befits a man whose time is worth "$10,000 per day." (Satevepost Dec. 5). "Dear Mr. McMasters," he said, "This is in reply to your letter of November 3. May I call to your attention what the Merriam Webster Dictionary has to say about collective nouns? Even old reporters can learn new tricks. Sincerely, John Fox." He must have been very busy as his letter bore the date of Dec. 1, nearly four weeks after mine was sent. I thanked him for his kind directive to an old reporter and told him that I had consulted Merriam-Webster before writing him. Among other references I quoted Webster, under WORLD, with the paradigm, "All the world loves a lover," and not "love a lover." I gave him Century, and collective nouns, with "herd" as an example, and of course, Gray, "The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea." Not "wind." I followed with Bartlett's quotations, with 52 instances of "world" followed by "is" and not once with "are." I politely called his attention to the fact that Merriam-Webster is hyphenated and that his new IBM electric typewriter had skipped the hyphen.

I thought that would end it, but back came Mr. Fox, with: "Dear Mr. McMasters. I suggest that you check your references and sources again. After a little thinking, I think that you may understand them better. Thanks for your interest. Sincerely, John Fox.

I have done so. Century gives us WORLD--Mankind, or the public generally (as, the whole world knows it); also (as, the world worships success). Webster (Mr. Fox's authority) says, for Collective noun. Gram. A noun naming a collection or aggregate of individuals by a singular form (assembly, army, jury). When the designated collection is thought of as a whole, the noun takes a singular verb. (Mr. Fox said: "the world, by and large."). It strikes me that Mr. Fox has confounded the editorial ""we' with his many other activities and now regards himself as a collective noun, but even so, his ideas of the world are most singular and should remain so, unless every reference in the whole world of classic literature is wrong.

According to Publisher Fox, it would be improper for CRIMSON readers to say: "The world is of the opinion that Mr. Fox is wrong," but should say: "the world are of the opinion that Editor Fox are right."

Can Editor Fox hide behind the Merriam-Webster dictionary on the ground that his answer might tend to incinerate him? William H. McMasters,   Cambridge, Mass.