6 ms·
Only if "They" is their given name and not a pronoun. If used as a pronoun, you can say "they are tall" in singular: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-gui
by franciscop 5y ago
Only if "They" is their given name and not a pronoun. If used as a pronoun, you can say "they are tall" in singular:
https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/grammar/singular-they#:~:text=Here%20are%20some%20tips%20to,%E2%80%9Ca%20person%20are%E2%80%9D https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/grammar/si...).
- bradleyjg 5y agoSeems like a violation of the strict aliasing rule.
- andrepd 5y agoHow so?
- CyberShadow 5y agoBecause you use a "multiple" of pointers to refer to a single entity. (It's a C joke.)
- mdp2021 5y agoThat page you link to uses very ideological content - not philological as one could expect. Not all will agree with those guidelines, they are far from universally acceptable.
- andrepd 5y agoHow so philological? Language changes all the time due to practice. People don't need to justify their speech with philological arguments.
- moomin 5y agoYes, although in the case of singular they, its usage goes back to Chaucer, so it’s more established than most practices in modern English.
- mdp2020 5y agoI believe they do. Practice must have a reasonable reference. People are free to contribute to the language - but with some competence.
- PavleMiha 5y agoThink about it this way, we're playing Guess Who, and you haven't asked about gender yet. You ask "Do they have dark hair?". It's obviously a question about a singular person, and that's the correct way to structure that question in English.
- mdp2020 5y agoCertainly. But I referred to the presented guidelines, collectively - not to "singular they". I wrote and intended that _those linked guidelines_ are "not universal".
- vidarh 5y agoSingular they in English usage dates back 600-700 years. People can disagree with those guidelines all they want - they will have to deal with the fact that people choose to use singular they and they can get worked up over it or get used to it.
- bradleyjg 5y agoDo you feel the same way about generic he? It too has a long history.
- roelschroeven 5y agoYes, generic he can be used in the singular as well.
- vidarh 5y agoIt is clearly valid. I personally don't care if others use "he" as a generic, but seeing at some people don't feel included when it is used, I increasingly use "they". Not least when I don't know someones preference, because I consider the most inclusive option to be the most polite.
- bradleyjg 5y agoI don’t feel included by they.
- vidarh 5y agoYou objectively are, and in the choice of who to care about that means I have absolutely no interest in catering to people upset that others are included.
- bradleyjg 5y agoThere’s no difference objectively between generic he and generic they. Both cover everyone. You just prefer one to the other. That’s fine, so do I.
- majormajor 5y agoWhere's the ideological content? Some people: "let's use, of already-established pronouns, the one that doesn't make any assumptions about people" You: "no, fuck you, other people's interpretation of what I say is strictly their problem, I'm gonna stick with 'he' no matter what other people feel or request, because I can" The only ideology I can see here is the absolutist sort of "nobody can even suggest to me that I change a thing" or "I can't possibly cause offense if I don't mean to, so I don't need to think about word usage."
- bradleyjg 5y agoI don’t understand how it doesn’t make assumptions about people. In the case of a generic antecedent, sure that’s fine and well established historically. But in this case there’s a known antecedent, Michael Larabel. I don’t know what Michael’s preferred pronouns are, but isn’t the original poster in this chain assuming it’s they/them and aren’t they more likely, statistically speaking, to be he/him? Why does it somehow not count as misgendering when you they/them someone that prefers he/him or she/her?
- vidarh 5y ago> Why does it somehow not count as misgendering when you they/them someone that prefers he/him or she/her? Because one appears to make an assumption about gender, whether or not you intended it to be taken as a generic, while the other objectively is generic. As far as options go, they/them minimises assumptions. Yes, some people might still take offence, but given that most of the people who take offence at that takes offence because they oppose inclusiveness of others, I'm perfectly fine with not respecting their choice in the matter.
- bradleyjg 5y agobut given that most of the people who take offence at that takes offence because they oppose inclusiveness of others You have some evidence of this or just the unshakable certainty of the self righteous?