Change our lifestyle(s)

[Glizdka]

Following up on ketanco's question, when talking about the lifestyle led by most people, and the urge to change it in order to save the planet, should I pluralized lifestyle or nor?

"All it takes is to simply change our lifestyle."

I think lifestyle is idiomatic enough to justify its singularity, but I'm not sure. Pluralize or not?

 

[Yankee]

Following up on ketanco's question, when talking about the lifestyle led by most people, and the urge to change it in order to save the planet, should I pluralized lifestyle or nor?

"All it takes is to simply change our lifestyle."

I think lifestyle is idiomatic enough to justify its singularity, but I'm not sure. Pluralize or not? Not.

Y

 

[Tdol]

You could, however, make a case for the plural.

 

[jutfrank]

Ugh, no. The singular is horrible there, if the sense is that each person has a separate lifestyle. You'll have trouble convincing me otherwise.

 

[Glizdka]

Ugh, no. The singular is horrible there, if the sense is that each person has a separate lifestyle. You'll have trouble convincing me otherwise.

It's not about separate lifestyles of each individual. It's about humanity as a collective. We (humanity) need to change our (humanity's) lifestyle.

At the same time, our is plural, so lifestyle described by it should be plural as well.

 

[Tdol]

I find myself repeatedly relaxed about singular and plural questions that people feel strongly about- there may be something wrong with me.

 

[Yankee]

Ugh, no. The singular is horrible there, if the sense is that each person has a separate lifestyle. You'll have trouble convincing me otherwise.

"Lifestyle" is among many nouns considered to be variable. They are similar to count nouns when, clearly, they refer to more than one item or instance, but similar to non-count nouns when they refer to something in general terms. As usual, context rules! My original response lacking context in the post was to consider "lifestyle" in general.

 

[jutfrank]

It's not about separate lifestyles of each individual. It's about humanity as a collective. We (humanity) need to change our (humanity's) lifestyle.

Okay, that's not so bad then. It wasn't clear from the context what you meant.