5 ms·

My takeaway: Executives get fired, but N*&$!s get capped & bagged.

9999 15y ago
The contrast between his super-PC usage of she/her instead of he/him (or even they/them) and the Dre song makes for some lovely cognitive dissonance.
- temphn 15y ago
  This particular contradiction runs deep. The last bastion of unapologetic masculinity today is gangsta rap. A CEO is nothing if not competitive, a traditionally masculine trait. Yet a modern CEO must also be uber-PC. Thus the contrast.
  - zackattack 15y ago
    my email is zackster@gmail.com - feel free to contact any time
- roel_v 15y ago
  It's funny in a screwed up way because he uses the 'she' form for a person to be fired. So in a weird PC way I thought 'man, why is this guy harping on this poor woman being fired - as if guys can't screw up and be fired'. So to be really PC he needs to step it up a notch - prefer to 'he/him' when somebody is doing something wrong, and 'she/her' when doing something good :)
cpr 15y ago
His attempt to be PC and make the firee a "she" backfired--it sounds sexist to have the failing executive be female. Give it up, folks--just use "he" as a generic pronoun. No one thinks it means you think one gender is better than the other.
- orangecat 15y ago
  There's nothing wrong with "they" as third person singular.
  - Willwhatley 15y ago
    Except that it sounds terrible if one was brought up according to a different light. English already has a third person personal singular.
    - Todd 15y ago
      Many languages have unexpected pronoun usage that newcomers must get used to. Many Indo-European languages have a formal 'you', for example. With French, it's the same as 2nd person plural (you). With German, it's the same as 3rd person plural (they). French also has the odd case of 'on' which, although it's a 3rd person singular (e.g., one goes = on va), is very frequently used as 1st person plural (we go = nous allons). Where there is a missing component in language, there will be a cognitive need to fill it somehow. It can be done with formations like y'all or with more acceptable usage such as they. I think we English speakers worry too much about this sort of thing.
      - Luyt 15y ago
        In Dutch, there is 'jij' (colloquial 'you') and 'u' (formal 'you'). There is a trend to replace both 'jij' and 'u' by 'joe' (pronounced as the english 'you'). This eliminates the dilemma whether to address someone formally or not. The word 'joe' was popularized by Wim T. Schippers both on the radio and in his plays and TV series.
    - gruseom 15y ago
      Singular "they" goes back centuries. Shakespeare and Jane Austen both used it. Its comeback as the solution to the gender-neutral conundrum seems to me a pretty good answer to changing social conditions. It does stand out too much sometimes, but "he" and "she" stand out way worse, especially the dreadful overcompensating "I'll just self-consciously regulate my gender distribution and make sure that at least half of the time my programmers and executives are a she" business, which is based on a misunderstanding of how language evolves. You don't get to pick and choose your own usages - not without sounding pompous and stilted. None of these options are perfect because language, like society, is in a transitional period. But I'd be surprised if singular "they" doesn't end up winning. To my ear it has already very much pulled ahead. Not that it matters what any of us thinks. Language will evolve however it does. Usages are incorrect until they hit critical mass and become correct.
- dan_manges 15y ago
  I'd say he's going for being contrarian rather than PC. It didn't sound sexist to me, likely because the CEO was also female.
- rwolf 15y ago
  It did not backfire. It should not be given up.
- lanstein 15y ago
  Ben always uses 'she' in his posts.

9999 15y ago

The contrast between his super-PC usage of she/her instead of he/him (or even they/them) and the Dre song makes for some lovely cognitive dissonance.

temphn 15y ago
This particular contradiction runs deep. The last bastion of unapologetic masculinity today is gangsta rap. A CEO is nothing if not competitive, a traditionally masculine trait. Yet a modern CEO must also be uber-PC. Thus the contrast.
- zackattack 15y ago
  my email is zackster@gmail.com - feel free to contact any time
roel_v 15y ago
It's funny in a screwed up way because he uses the 'she' form for a person to be fired. So in a weird PC way I thought 'man, why is this guy harping on this poor woman being fired - as if guys can't screw up and be fired'. So to be really PC he needs to step it up a notch - prefer to 'he/him' when somebody is doing something wrong, and 'she/her' when doing something good :)

cpr 15y ago

His attempt to be PC and make the firee a "she" backfired--it sounds sexist to have the failing executive be female. Give it up, folks--just use "he" as a generic pronoun. No one thinks it means you think one gender is better than the other.

orangecat 15y ago
There's nothing wrong with "they" as third person singular.
- Willwhatley 15y ago
  Except that it sounds terrible if one was brought up according to a different light. English already has a third person personal singular.
  - Todd 15y ago
    Many languages have unexpected pronoun usage that newcomers must get used to. Many Indo-European languages have a formal 'you', for example. With French, it's the same as 2nd person plural (you). With German, it's the same as 3rd person plural (they). French also has the odd case of 'on' which, although it's a 3rd person singular (e.g., one goes = on va), is very frequently used as 1st person plural (we go = nous allons). Where there is a missing component in language, there will be a cognitive need to fill it somehow. It can be done with formations like y'all or with more acceptable usage such as they. I think we English speakers worry too much about this sort of thing.
    - Luyt 15y ago
      In Dutch, there is 'jij' (colloquial 'you') and 'u' (formal 'you'). There is a trend to replace both 'jij' and 'u' by 'joe' (pronounced as the english 'you'). This eliminates the dilemma whether to address someone formally or not. The word 'joe' was popularized by Wim T. Schippers both on the radio and in his plays and TV series.
  - gruseom 15y ago
    Singular "they" goes back centuries. Shakespeare and Jane Austen both used it. Its comeback as the solution to the gender-neutral conundrum seems to me a pretty good answer to changing social conditions. It does stand out too much sometimes, but "he" and "she" stand out way worse, especially the dreadful overcompensating "I'll just self-consciously regulate my gender distribution and make sure that at least half of the time my programmers and executives are a she" business, which is based on a misunderstanding of how language evolves. You don't get to pick and choose your own usages - not without sounding pompous and stilted. None of these options are perfect because language, like society, is in a transitional period. But I'd be surprised if singular "they" doesn't end up winning. To my ear it has already very much pulled ahead. Not that it matters what any of us thinks. Language will evolve however it does. Usages are incorrect until they hit critical mass and become correct.
dan_manges 15y ago
I'd say he's going for being contrarian rather than PC. It didn't sound sexist to me, likely because the CEO was also female.
rwolf 15y ago
It did not backfire. It should not be given up.
lanstein 15y ago
Ben always uses 'she' in his posts.