2 ms·

Back in my English classes, The Elements Of Style was our bible. It says that singular-they is not correct, and that "he" is the correct pronoun for a subject t

Back in my English classes, The Elements Of Style was our bible. It says that singular-they is not correct, and that "he" is the correct pronoun for a subject that could be of either gender. So, if someone were to argue, "we should switch to singular-they because 'he' is old-fashioned", then sure, I would totally be on board with that. Something I didn't know until today, is that singular-they is actually a pretty old idea with a lot of precedent. But some people (like Joyent) seem to be saying, "anyone who uses 'he' instead of 'they' is being sexist," which is just going totally overboard. Lots of well-regarded style guidelines say the opposite, so quit with your witch-hunt logic.

secstate 13y ago
The Elements of Style has been systematically debunked a number of times. White & Strunk frequently stated some crazy hard-and-fast rule and then broke it in their own usage of English in the next chapter. When you don't know the gender of the subject, don't use a gender-specific pronoun. Done. Now, should we refactor a code base to achieve this, that's a whole other kettle of fish. I'd say, why not. It's not like sed is a difficult tool to use. But to each their own on that one.
jamesaguilar 13y ago
You're confusing the issue by taking it too personally. Use they because otherwise you are being sexist: no. Use they because it it is easy, will make some people feel more included, and otherwise has no significant effect: yes. As to who is sexist and not, you can hardly determine from this issue alone. But were true motivations open for my examination, I'd want to look closely at that of folks who fight vociferously against the use of genderless pronouns. That doesn't mean they're sexist, but the lack of other reasons changes my estimate of that hypothesis.

2 ms·

Back in my English classes, The Elements Of Style was our bible. It says that singular-they is not correct, and that "he" is the correct pronoun for a subject t

by paulhodge 13y ago

secstate 13y ago
The Elements of Style has been systematically debunked a number of times. White & Strunk frequently stated some crazy hard-and-fast rule and then broke it in their own usage of English in the next chapter. When you don't know the gender of the subject, don't use a gender-specific pronoun. Done. Now, should we refactor a code base to achieve this, that's a whole other kettle of fish. I'd say, why not. It's not like sed is a difficult tool to use. But to each their own on that one.
jamesaguilar 13y ago
You're confusing the issue by taking it too personally. Use they because otherwise you are being sexist: no. Use they because it it is easy, will make some people feel more included, and otherwise has no significant effect: yes. As to who is sexist and not, you can hardly determine from this issue alone. But were true motivations open for my examination, I'd want to look closely at that of folks who fight vociferously against the use of genderless pronouns. That doesn't mean they're sexist, but the lack of other reasons changes my estimate of that hypothesis.