2 ms·

Idioms are a bitch. I'm no native speaker, but I see no good alternative to "good men". "Good People", maybe? But I bet native ears would cringe a bit.

• marcoperaza 11y ago
  "Good people" would have worked fine, though at some cost to dramatic impact. The really barbarous constructions are things like "he or she" as the third-person singular pronoun. There's five camps I can think of on this: 1) Keep using "he" as the gender-generic third-person singular pronoun. This was the only accepted option for a long time. I think this is the best sounding, but some crowds might give you grief for it. 2) Use "he or she" every time. This is the worst. 3) Use a mix of both "he" and "she", but obviously be consistent when referring to the same abstract person. I like this in theory, but in practice, the "she"s pops out of the page and direct attention away from what you're trying to say. 4) Use "they". This seems to be winning, though many find it to be a grammatical abomination, since "they" is supposed to be plural. 5) Always use "she". This is how you let everyone know that you have a political agenda.
  • rhyzomatic 11y ago
    For points 1) and 4), just so you are aware, "they" as a singular pronoun has been in popular use since the 14th century. The idea that the "correct" gender neutral singular pronoun is "he" came about in the 19th century. I find it much harder to support the idea that "'they' is supposed to be plural" with this in mind.
    • marcoperaza 11y ago
      Today I learned. Thanks for correcting me.