5 ms·

> Hardly anyone uses "one" like that in spoken language. It's common in written-language [0][1] especially in a piece of writing whose primary aim is didactic.

> Hardly anyone uses "one" like that in spoken language. It's common in written-language [0][1] especially in a piece of writing whose primary aim is didactic. > There is a particularly dangerous occupational hazard in this subject: becoming focused, Actually it should be the infinitive not the adjective-form: to become focused. Elsewhere all you've done is replace the third person pronoun with the second-person e.g. > before one is really ready with > before you're really ready There's nothing wrong with using the second-person - but criticizing the author based on their use of the third-person pronoun one is only reflective of the lack of education on the part of the commenter, the shout out at political correctness and various alternative movements was totally unnecessary as well. [0] https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=one+can+become%2Cyou+can+become&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cone%20can%20become%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cyou%20can%20become%3B%2Cc0 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=one+can+become... [1] https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=one+is+inclined%2C+you+are+inclined&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cone%20is%20inclined%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cyou%20are%20inclined%3B%2Cc0 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=one+is+incline...

jamesrcole 10y ago
> Actually it should be I was talking about how people typically communicate in spoken language. > There's nothing wrong with using the second-person - but criticizing the author based one I didn't criticize the author at all. And I'd ask you the same thing as I asked the person I was originally replying to... do you think there's something wrong with the alternatives to "one"?
OJFord 10y ago
I often feel that 'we' is a better substitute than 'you' anyway, assuming a desire not to personalise. People seem frequently to say ridiculous things such as "you don't - I mean general-you, not you-you - ...", why do we (<-) go to such lengths to avoid the perfectly fine and much more succinct 'one'? 'We' has similar problems, but at least even if taken specifically and personally it includes oneself; thereby it's less likely to be taken as specific criticism or personal insult, etc.

jamesrcole 10y ago

> Actually it should be I was talking about how people typically communicate in spoken language. > There's nothing wrong with using the second-person - but criticizing the author based one I didn't criticize the author at all. And I'd ask you the same thing as I asked the person I was originally replying to... do you think there's something wrong with the alternatives to "one"?

OJFord 10y ago

I often feel that 'we' is a better substitute than 'you' anyway, assuming a desire not to personalise. People seem frequently to say ridiculous things such as "you don't - I mean general-you, not you-you - ...", why do we (<-) go to such lengths to avoid the perfectly fine and much more succinct 'one'? 'We' has similar problems, but at least even if taken specifically and personally it includes oneself; thereby it's less likely to be taken as specific criticism or personal insult, etc.