6 ms·

As far as I can tell, Google hadn't (yet?) implemented gender-specific language. E.g. http://i.imgur.com/1B5rT.png http://i.imgur.com/1B5rT.png

Joakal 15y ago
Why is a gender specific language important?
- benbscholz 15y ago
  The issue was brought to my attention by this post: https://plus.google.com/111588569124648292310/posts/SeBqgN9Zoiu https://plus.google.com/111588569124648292310/posts/SeBqgN9Z...
  - Joakal 15y ago
    No, I can understand some people would want to hide their gender. I was asking why there should be gender-specific language when your very reference is pointing out that people want to hide their gender. If someone hides their gender and you see posts like Dan who wished to hide their gender would be exposed with "Dan has not filled out his profile yet."
    - edanm 15y ago
      When someone hides their gender, the language used from then on will be neutral. That's what they had to implement - neutral (instead of gender specific language).
- MikeCapone 15y ago
  In some languages it is much more important than in English, and it would just sound weird for Google pages to refer to you in a gender-neutral way by default.
  - Joakal 15y ago
    Can you give an example of referring to a gender-specific way that's weird in using gender-neutral words?
    - bricestacey 15y ago
      Many languages have different ways of saying "you" depending on gender. For example, many arabic verbs have suffixes "ak" (you, masc) and "ik" (you, fem). There is no gender-neutral way to directly address someone (there is only masculine and feminine nouns). PS. I have only rudimentary knowledge of Arabic so any native speakers, forgive me if I'm way off.
    - eddington 15y ago
      If you were to try to say "my friend's house" in lots of languages you have to use a gender-specific word. In spanish, for example La casa de mi amigo / La casa de mi amiga. If you were to try to do it in a gender neutral manner ... La casa de una persona que conozco bien. Which translates roughly to "the house of a person that I know (and know well)."
      - wccrawford 15y ago
        Spanish speakers don't have the same hangups about using 'he' as the gender-neutral pronoun. It's just a part of their language. English is the one where people get bent out of shape over it.
        mtts 15y ago
        No, Dutchies don't like it either. I don't think it's language specific. It probably has something to do with how much machismo or political correctness there is in a culture :-) By that logic, Americans are probably more upset about this than, say, Nigerians (I assume Nigerian culture(s) are rather less PC than American culture).
        wccrawford 15y ago
jdp23 15y ago
Actually they had. From the video: "One of the major things we use gender information for on Google+ is for picking gender pronouns - her, his, theirs - when we refer to you. Google is committed to building products that people all over the world use, and in some languages gender is much more deeply part of how sentences are formed than in say, English. Having gender information helps to make Google+ more conversational. If you decide to make your gender private on Google+, we'll to use gender-neutral language to describe you whenever someone else encounters gender-related information about you but doesn't have permission to see your gender. For example, instead of saying 'Greg added you to his circles' or 'Frances added you to her circles', we'll say 'Greg added you to their circles' or 'Frances added you to their circles'. Yes, I know this is grammatically questionable. You don't need to message me about it. We value helping people control their privacy as being much more important than being grammatically perfectly."
- jmadsen 15y ago
  yeah, "being grammatically perfectly." is obviously of lesser importance to them :-) I know, I know..troll
  - adriand 15y ago
    > I know, I know..troll Actually, I think you just missed the joke, that's all.
- hammock 15y ago
  Ctrl-H Find and Replace doesn't seem all that hard.
  - jarek 15y ago
    Not all languages will be as simple as s/his/their/ and s/her/their/.
    - sheffield 15y ago
      But in English it is. It's acceptable to develop faster for certain (popular) languages.
bobo888 15y ago
I would like to remind you that there are other languages on Earth too besides English.

Joakal 15y ago

Why is a gender specific language important?

benbscholz 15y ago
The issue was brought to my attention by this post: https://plus.google.com/111588569124648292310/posts/SeBqgN9Zoiu https://plus.google.com/111588569124648292310/posts/SeBqgN9Z...
- Joakal 15y ago
  No, I can understand some people would want to hide their gender. I was asking why there should be gender-specific language when your very reference is pointing out that people want to hide their gender. If someone hides their gender and you see posts like Dan who wished to hide their gender would be exposed with "Dan has not filled out his profile yet."
  - edanm 15y ago
    When someone hides their gender, the language used from then on will be neutral. That's what they had to implement - neutral (instead of gender specific language).
MikeCapone 15y ago
In some languages it is much more important than in English, and it would just sound weird for Google pages to refer to you in a gender-neutral way by default.
- Joakal 15y ago
  Can you give an example of referring to a gender-specific way that's weird in using gender-neutral words?
  - bricestacey 15y ago
    Many languages have different ways of saying "you" depending on gender. For example, many arabic verbs have suffixes "ak" (you, masc) and "ik" (you, fem). There is no gender-neutral way to directly address someone (there is only masculine and feminine nouns). PS. I have only rudimentary knowledge of Arabic so any native speakers, forgive me if I'm way off.
  - eddington 15y ago
    If you were to try to say "my friend's house" in lots of languages you have to use a gender-specific word. In spanish, for example La casa de mi amigo / La casa de mi amiga. If you were to try to do it in a gender neutral manner ... La casa de una persona que conozco bien. Which translates roughly to "the house of a person that I know (and know well)."
    - wccrawford 15y ago
      Spanish speakers don't have the same hangups about using 'he' as the gender-neutral pronoun. It's just a part of their language. English is the one where people get bent out of shape over it.
      - mtts 15y ago
        No, Dutchies don't like it either. I don't think it's language specific. It probably has something to do with how much machismo or political correctness there is in a culture :-) By that logic, Americans are probably more upset about this than, say, Nigerians (I assume Nigerian culture(s) are rather less PC than American culture).
        wccrawford 15y ago

jdp23 15y ago

Actually they had. From the video: "One of the major things we use gender information for on Google+ is for picking gender pronouns - her, his, theirs - when we refer to you. Google is committed to building products that people all over the world use, and in some languages gender is much more deeply part of how sentences are formed than in say, English. Having gender information helps to make Google+ more conversational. If you decide to make your gender private on Google+, we'll to use gender-neutral language to describe you whenever someone else encounters gender-related information about you but doesn't have permission to see your gender. For example, instead of saying 'Greg added you to his circles' or 'Frances added you to her circles', we'll say 'Greg added you to their circles' or 'Frances added you to their circles'. Yes, I know this is grammatically questionable. You don't need to message me about it. We value helping people control their privacy as being much more important than being grammatically perfectly."

jmadsen 15y ago
yeah, "being grammatically perfectly." is obviously of lesser importance to them :-) I know, I know..troll
- adriand 15y ago
  > I know, I know..troll Actually, I think you just missed the joke, that's all.
hammock 15y ago
Ctrl-H Find and Replace doesn't seem all that hard.
- jarek 15y ago
  Not all languages will be as simple as s/his/their/ and s/her/their/.
  - sheffield 15y ago
    But in English it is. It's acceptable to develop faster for certain (popular) languages.

bobo888 15y ago

I would like to remind you that there are other languages on Earth too besides English.