4 ms·
Much ado over nothing. "Them" in that context just sounds odd to me (perhaps not in American English?) A 50/50 mix of him/her sounds way more natural.
by aviraldg 13y ago
Much ado over nothing. "Them" in that context just sounds odd to me (perhaps not in American English?) A 50/50 mix of him/her sounds way more natural.
- yetanotherphd 13y agoNot all people belong to the categories "Male" and "Female". Luckily you won't be fired for this post, but be warned for the future.
- aviraldg 13y agoI'm all for diversity, but I like my pronouns as they are, thank you.
- Brakenshire 13y agoIt's actually the other way around, the objection to the use of singular 'them/they' as a gender indeterminate pronoun is a relatively recent shift apparently originating from American English. It is a form which was otherwise well-established: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they#Generic_they http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they#Generic_they (There are example quotes in the link from Shakespeare, Austen, Twain, and Bernard-Shaw)
- aviraldg 13y agoI was comparing against Indian English, but point noted.
- Brakenshire 13y agoAh, I wasn't meaning to tell you what the usage is in your country, just trying to make the narrow point about American English. As an aside, do you mind if I ask, is there a narrative in India about protecting the Indian dialect of English, like you might get in Britain about vulgur Americanization, or in America about pretentious Britishisms?
- plinkplonk 13y agoNo there isn't a 'protect Indian English' narrative here.