Talk:odds

Tea room discussion

Note: the below discussion was moved from the Wiktionary:Tea room.

I was surprised to find nearly 20% or b.g.c. usage had "odds" taking a singular verb, which seemed absolutely wrong to me. "The odds is in favor of the sun rising tomorrow morning."?????? Where is this acceptable (or even preferred)? DCDuring TALK 03:45, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

NOAD calls this a plural noun. —Michael Z. 2008-08-28 05:24 z

So does the OALD. Plural noun, thus plural form of verb. --Duncan MacCall 22:25, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Tea room discussion (November 2008)

Note: the below discussion was moved from the Wiktionary:Tea room.

Odds have meaning of handicap? Like in phrases:

"Odds matches versus grandmasters ... He had won 1½-½ when given pawn-and-move, and 2½-1½ (1 win, 3 draws) when given exchange odds but playing black. In two standard games (Milov had white, no odds), Rybka won 1½-½." TestPilot^{talk to me!} 08:15, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

nvm, m-w.com answered the question. TestPilot^{talk to me!} 08:24, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

What are the odds an earthquake will devastate Seattle?

Is the following nominal phrase correct? What are the odds an earthquake will devastate Seattle? --Backinstadiums (talk) 18:29, 29 November 2019 (UTC)