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I'm one of them. Grew up with "they" as strictly plural. Had enough red ink on school essays that the lesson sank in. Every time I see "they" in a singular cont
by throwawayboise 5y ago
I'm one of them. Grew up with "they" as strictly plural. Had enough red ink on school essays that the lesson sank in. Every time I see "they" in a singular context it's like mentally stubbing my toe on a tree root. I have to stop, go back and re-read to be sure I didn't miss something that set up the plural context.
If you insist on being gender-neutral, you have to write "he or she" which quicky gets tiresome. Or rewrite without using pronouns, which can also be awkward.
I learned that "he" is gender-neutral if there is no other context, and that's the way I continue to write.
- InitialLastName 5y ago"They" has been an acceptable third-person non-determinate singular pronoun since at least the Canterbury Tales: "And whoso fyndeth hym out of swich blame, They wol come up..." That your English teachers were misinformed prescriptivists isn't the language's fault, and shouldn't be used as a ruler by which you measure the writing of others.
- jsjsbdkj 5y agoThey're from idaho based on the username, so they haven't caught up to chaucer yet...
- LAC-Tech 5y agoThis is true. I notice that practically all Californians I meet have a deep knowledge of Middle English and have studied Chaucer extensively. They even pronounce 'Chaucer' correctly, which is very rare globally. Comments like this are why I love Hacker News.
- ghaff 5y agoA couple of decades ago, I'm guessing that most English teachers/editors would have corrected, Chaucer notwithstanding. But, yes, general style these days does favor "they" as preferred third-person non-determinate singular pronoun because it's better than all the alternatives for various reasons.
- neurotrace 5y agoSomeone may say that "he" is gender-neutral but it's not in practice