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> he made up He says that he took it from "Marge Piercy's book Woman on the Edge of Time" > He refuses to respect singular "they". He says "As for \"they\",

> he made up He says that he took it from "Marge Piercy's book Woman on the Edge of Time" > He refuses to respect singular "they". He says "As for \"they\", if you are plural by nature — for instance, if you are a colonial organism or a group mind, or if you wish to be known for having multiple personalities — I will use that plural pronoun to refer to you.", which seems fair to me.

pseudalopex 7y ago
He made up "perse". Singular "they" is common English. Not respecting it seems unfair to me.
- dependenttypes 7y ago
  Unfair to whom? And why do you think that it is unfair? Is it just because it is popular?
  - astura 7y ago
    It's not behavior that should be exhibited by a leader/evangelist for a cause.
    - dependenttypes 7y ago
      I think that you posted this to the wrong post by mistake.
- virgilp 7y ago
  You're talking about the guy who, in the email thread that "ended" him, complained that he can't read a link because the site doesn't work with OSS technologies. He's extreme in following his dogma. If he believes "they" is plural in nature, he will refuse to use that as a singular - and that is not because he disrespects you, but because he thinks "this is the right thing to do". If you believe it's fair to have a particular personality that requires other persons to call you "they".... doesn't it follow that it's fair to have a particular personality that makes you feel very bad about "misusing English"? It's really two sides of the same coin, if you believe a person has the right to decide what pronouns he's comfortable being called, you must also believe a person has the right to decide how he uses a particular pronoun. The essential thing here is that RMS doesn't avoid "they" out of disrespect, but out of his own particular weirdness/ peculiarity... something that we should be able to respect.

pseudalopex 7y ago

He made up "perse". Singular "they" is common English. Not respecting it seems unfair to me.

dependenttypes 7y ago
Unfair to whom? And why do you think that it is unfair? Is it just because it is popular?
- astura 7y ago
  It's not behavior that should be exhibited by a leader/evangelist for a cause.
  - dependenttypes 7y ago
    I think that you posted this to the wrong post by mistake.
virgilp 7y ago
You're talking about the guy who, in the email thread that "ended" him, complained that he can't read a link because the site doesn't work with OSS technologies. He's extreme in following his dogma. If he believes "they" is plural in nature, he will refuse to use that as a singular - and that is not because he disrespects you, but because he thinks "this is the right thing to do". If you believe it's fair to have a particular personality that requires other persons to call you "they".... doesn't it follow that it's fair to have a particular personality that makes you feel very bad about "misusing English"? It's really two sides of the same coin, if you believe a person has the right to decide what pronouns he's comfortable being called, you must also believe a person has the right to decide how he uses a particular pronoun. The essential thing here is that RMS doesn't avoid "they" out of disrespect, but out of his own particular weirdness/ peculiarity... something that we should be able to respect.