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In a piece I'm writing about financial markets, I'm worried that I'll stir controversy amongst economists. Do I write:

I'll clarify this before a bunch of economists jumps down my throat.

or

I'll clarify this before a bunch of economists jump down my throat.

Does the verb conjugation refer to the singular "bunch", or the plural "economists"?

I see a somewhat related question here but I'm not sure it's exactly the same grammatical situation.

Thomas Browne
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    Your linked question is identical. Just substitute "Team" for "Bunch". The answer given is good. Singular if you see Bunch as a single unit, and plural of you see "Bunch" as a number of individuals. – Greybeard Feb 14 '21 at 14:33
  • @ThomasBrowne If you really think that the questions are different, please [edit] the question to expand on your last sentence and say why that is. – Andrew Leach Feb 14 '21 at 14:35
  • I think @Anton you're being too flippantly dismissive of this question, because in common usage I'm not at all sure that strict conjugation applies. My sense, hence the question, is that we might be seeing some evolution into common enough usage that "jump" actually is acceptable. However I guess if you want to be rigid then obviously you're right. I was hoping for some nuance; if there is no nuance here, if there is no room for discussion of common usage, ie this forum is simply a grammatical textbook state machine, then it's not very useful. – Thomas Browne Feb 14 '21 at 14:39
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    @ThomasBrowne That comment was a bit brusque and it's been removed. However, if you follow the link to the duplicate mentioned here, and from that question to its duplicate and the answers there, you'll see that the underlying nuance has already been answered. There are no rules, and indeed British English and American English tend to go in different directions. – Andrew Leach Feb 14 '21 at 14:46
  • @AndrewLeach got it thank you. – Thomas Browne Feb 14 '21 at 14:46
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    I was too quick to adopt the site etiquette that I have seen in some others. Despite my limited experience here, learning that etiquette can sometimes feel like navigating a ship in a bombing raid: the route is unpredictably variable and success is never guaranteed. – Anton Feb 14 '21 at 14:56
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    The convention known as logical/notional agreement is almost universally used in the UK, and quite extensively elsewhere. I'd certainly recommend it; it can't be classed as 'ungrammatical'. // Using this convention, one has to ask whether one is imagining a synchronised plunge by the bunch, or individuals taking turns. Yes, the metaphorical usage renders both distinctly odd, but the coordinated dive is the more comical I'd use ' ... before a bunch of economists [compare 'a dozen economists'] jump down my throat'. But then I'm British. 'Formal agreement' ('bunch' being singular-form) is OK. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 14 '21 at 15:17
  • The referenced question is not the same. It is asking about notional agreement, or synesis, for collective nouns acting collectively vs. individually (and usage is different for AmE and BrE). You are asking about notional agreement with quantity words. A bunch is used like a lot rather than as a collective noun here. A bunch of pizza was eaten. A bunch of peas were eaten. A bunch of economists jump down my throat. – Tinfoil Hat Feb 14 '21 at 17:19
  • What do you mean by "bunch"? If you mean a number of economists are all chained together in a bunch, so that they all must jump at the same time, then it's singular. If, instead, you mean that the economists all get riled, but do so individually and individually inject themselves into the person's throat, then it should be treated as a plural term, the same as "several". – Hot Licks Feb 15 '21 at 01:31

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