User:Un assiolo/Damages versus damage
 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This page in a nutshell: The plural damages is incorrect except in a legal context and should be replaced with damage. |
The noun damages does not refer to multiple instances of damage. According to the article damages,
At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury.
In other words, damages are paid as compensation for damage. The payment is ordered by a court.
The word damage, when used outside this legal context, is a mass noun: the correct word for multiple instances of damage is damage. Accordingly, all instances of damages should be replaced with damage when the damages were not awarded by a court or sought by a plaintiff.
This of course only refers to the noun. Damages is correct as a verb meaning causes damage.
What to do when the incorrect usage appears in a quote or title
editIn these cases, damages should be replaced with {{sic|damage|s}}.[1] This displays as: damages [sic]. The additional parameter |nolink=y may be added to prevent a link, for example, when it appears in the title of a news article that links to the article, to prevent interfering with the link.