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According to the non-existent authority of the English language?

jki275 8y ago
According to common usage among the 1.5 billion people who speak English. You fall into the trap of confusing your tiny enclave of English speaking cliques as being representative of the rest of the planet where English is spoken regularly.
- saosebastiao 8y ago
  Please provide proof of this claim. I find it hard to believe, seeing how singular they has been in common use since the 14th century.
  - jki275 8y ago
    You could argue that it's been in debated use, but not common use. Otherwise there wouldn't be a debate...
    - saosebastiao 8y ago
      https://public.oed.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-singular-they/ https://public.oed.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-singular-they... > Former Chief Editor of the OED Robert Burchfield, in The New Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1996), dismisses objections to singular they as unsupported by the historical record. Burchfield observes that the construction is ‘passing unnoticed’ by speakers of standard English as well as by copy editors, and he concludes that this trend is ‘irreversible’. People who want to be inclusive, or respectful of other people’s preferences, use singular they. And people who don’t want to be inclusive, or who don’t respect other people’s pronoun choices, use singular they as well. Even people who object to singular they as a grammatical error use it themselves when they’re not looking, a sure sign that anyone who objects to singular they is, if not a fool or an idiot, at least hopelessly out of date. Just for the record, it's not me calling you a fool or an idiot or hopelessly out of date, it's the former Chief Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. The only debate here is the politically charged one with fake grammar authority that you have made up in your head.
      - jki275 8y ago
        That entire article is a left wing puff piece, not an editorial on language.
        saosebastiao 8y ago
        Singular they was in common use long before Left or Right has been to describe political factions. It is the right wing that politicized it, not the left.
        lovich 8y ago
        Is there any set of evidence that could exist that would cause you to change your view, or have you decided this based on emotions?
    - lovich 8y ago
      Being debated and being common are not two diametrically opposed states of being. There's a debate over whether gif is pronounced with a hard or soft g, yet both the correct pronunciation is a topic of debate
      - jki275 8y ago
        The guy who created it says it's pronounced jif. People can debate all day, but I'd take that as at least somewhat canonical.
- cultus 8y ago
  Replying to your lower comment: >You could argue that it's been in debated use, but not common use. Otherwise there wouldn't be a debate... This is just like people claiming "ain't" is improper English, or that you shouldn't split infinitives. Any kind of "debate" is irrelevant because language prescriptivism is nonsense. There's no authority on high to say whether something is correct or not. If many people use a construct, it is correct because they are communicating with it.

According to common usage among the 1.5 billion people who speak English. You fall into the trap of confusing your tiny enclave of English speaking cliques as being representative of the rest of the planet where English is spoken regularly.

saosebastiao 8y ago
Please provide proof of this claim. I find it hard to believe, seeing how singular they has been in common use since the 14th century.
- jki275 8y ago
  You could argue that it's been in debated use, but not common use. Otherwise there wouldn't be a debate...
  - saosebastiao 8y ago
    https://public.oed.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-singular-they/ https://public.oed.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-singular-they... > Former Chief Editor of the OED Robert Burchfield, in The New Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1996), dismisses objections to singular they as unsupported by the historical record. Burchfield observes that the construction is ‘passing unnoticed’ by speakers of standard English as well as by copy editors, and he concludes that this trend is ‘irreversible’. People who want to be inclusive, or respectful of other people’s preferences, use singular they. And people who don’t want to be inclusive, or who don’t respect other people’s pronoun choices, use singular they as well. Even people who object to singular they as a grammatical error use it themselves when they’re not looking, a sure sign that anyone who objects to singular they is, if not a fool or an idiot, at least hopelessly out of date. Just for the record, it's not me calling you a fool or an idiot or hopelessly out of date, it's the former Chief Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. The only debate here is the politically charged one with fake grammar authority that you have made up in your head.
    - jki275 8y ago
      That entire article is a left wing puff piece, not an editorial on language.
      - saosebastiao 8y ago
        Singular they was in common use long before Left or Right has been to describe political factions. It is the right wing that politicized it, not the left.
      - lovich 8y ago
        Is there any set of evidence that could exist that would cause you to change your view, or have you decided this based on emotions?
  - lovich 8y ago
    Being debated and being common are not two diametrically opposed states of being. There's a debate over whether gif is pronounced with a hard or soft g, yet both the correct pronunciation is a topic of debate
    - jki275 8y ago
      The guy who created it says it's pronounced jif. People can debate all day, but I'd take that as at least somewhat canonical.
cultus 8y ago
Replying to your lower comment: >You could argue that it's been in debated use, but not common use. Otherwise there wouldn't be a debate... This is just like people claiming "ain't" is improper English, or that you shouldn't split infinitives. Any kind of "debate" is irrelevant because language prescriptivism is nonsense. There's no authority on high to say whether something is correct or not. If many people use a construct, it is correct because they are communicating with it.