Re: "write him" was Re: More questions

Staving Gary Shannon:
>--- Stephen Mulraney <ataltanie@...> wrote:
>
><snip>
>
> > In the other direction, I once missed out on a
> > useful aid in a maths
> > exam
>
><snip>
>
>I've always wondered why folks in the UK choose to use
>the plural form of "math", when they take a "maths
>class" but yet don't go to "readings class" or
>"histories class" or "chemistries class".  What is the
>rule for deciding which school subject names are used
>in their plural form?
>
"Mathematics" sounds like a plural when said in full, so English usage has
preserved the "plural-soundingness". "Math", without a final s , sound
wrong to me - awkward and clumsy, like many Americanisms.

Pete