4 ms·

But they is plural, so wouldn't the author technically need to say "he or she" for each occurrence? Sadly, English has no singular gender neutral pronoun.

Somasis 12y ago
They can be used singular. Most people use it without thinking about it in conversation.
- monochromatic 12y ago
  Only people who don't mind sounding ignorant.
  - enneff 12y ago
    Relax. They sound just fine.
  - TheyAreFine 12y ago
    "...including Chaucer, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Thackeray, and Shaw" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they
    - dang 12y ago
      Oh yeah. Also Byron ("Every body does and says what they please"), Austen ("Nobody thinks of that when they fall in love"), Thackeray ("A person can't help their birth"), Wilde ("Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes"), Shaw ("It's enough to drive anyone out of their senses"), Lewis Carroll: "'Whoever lives there,' thought Alice, 'it'll never do to come upon them this size: why, I should frighten them out of their wits!'" C. S. Lewis: "She kept her head and kicked her shoes off, as everybody ought to do who falls into deep water in their clothes." Doris Lessing: "And how easy the way a man or woman would come in here, glance around, find smiles and pleasant looks waiting for them, then wave and sit down by themselves." E.B. White: "But somebody taught you, didn’t they?” This is settled. Singular 'they' is good English and always has been. The rule against it was just made up by 18th century grammarians (including the fascinating Ann Fisher [4], who surely would regret it now) and they even got a law passed in 1850 prohibiting it, which only goes to show how widely used it was. 1. https://web.archive.org/web/20150328135337/http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/sgtheirl.html https://web.archive.org/web/20150328135337/http://www.crossm... 2. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002748.html http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002748.h... 3. http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/austhlis.html http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/austhlis.html 4. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-onlanguage-t.html?_r=0&gwh=CC1FD7DF9F445A743AE7FFF6E7016729&gwt=pay http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-onlanguage-...
      - monochromatic 12y ago
        Hmm. Well, if Garner's[1] on board with it, I guess I can be too. [1] http://www.lawprose.org/blog/?p=502 http://www.lawprose.org/blog/?p=502
  - mhurron 12y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They "Alternatively, they as a singular pronoun can refer to an individual without strictly giving it a gender." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they "Singular they is the use of they, or its inflected or derivative forms, such as them, their, or themselves, to refer to a single person or an antecedent that is grammatically singular. It typically occurs with an antecedent of indeterminate gender"
qbrass 12y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_%28pronoun%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_%28pronoun%29 "One" works in some cases. Unfortunately, not when referring to something directly. I'd love to see "onesie" used for that, but it's not going to happen. If nothing else, one could use "one" to establish singularity when they use "they" later on.

Somasis 12y ago

They can be used singular. Most people use it without thinking about it in conversation.

monochromatic 12y ago
Only people who don't mind sounding ignorant.
- enneff 12y ago
  Relax. They sound just fine.
- TheyAreFine 12y ago
  "...including Chaucer, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Thackeray, and Shaw" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they
  - dang 12y ago
    Oh yeah. Also Byron ("Every body does and says what they please"), Austen ("Nobody thinks of that when they fall in love"), Thackeray ("A person can't help their birth"), Wilde ("Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes"), Shaw ("It's enough to drive anyone out of their senses"), Lewis Carroll: "'Whoever lives there,' thought Alice, 'it'll never do to come upon them this size: why, I should frighten them out of their wits!'" C. S. Lewis: "She kept her head and kicked her shoes off, as everybody ought to do who falls into deep water in their clothes." Doris Lessing: "And how easy the way a man or woman would come in here, glance around, find smiles and pleasant looks waiting for them, then wave and sit down by themselves." E.B. White: "But somebody taught you, didn’t they?” This is settled. Singular 'they' is good English and always has been. The rule against it was just made up by 18th century grammarians (including the fascinating Ann Fisher [4], who surely would regret it now) and they even got a law passed in 1850 prohibiting it, which only goes to show how widely used it was. 1. https://web.archive.org/web/20150328135337/http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/sgtheirl.html https://web.archive.org/web/20150328135337/http://www.crossm... 2. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002748.html http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002748.h... 3. http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/austhlis.html http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/austhlis.html 4. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-onlanguage-t.html?_r=0&gwh=CC1FD7DF9F445A743AE7FFF6E7016729&gwt=pay http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-onlanguage-...
    - monochromatic 12y ago
      Hmm. Well, if Garner's[1] on board with it, I guess I can be too. [1] http://www.lawprose.org/blog/?p=502 http://www.lawprose.org/blog/?p=502
- mhurron 12y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They "Alternatively, they as a singular pronoun can refer to an individual without strictly giving it a gender." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they "Singular they is the use of they, or its inflected or derivative forms, such as them, their, or themselves, to refer to a single person or an antecedent that is grammatically singular. It typically occurs with an antecedent of indeterminate gender"

qbrass 12y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_%28pronoun%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_%28pronoun%29 "One" works in some cases. Unfortunately, not when referring to something directly. I'd love to see "onesie" used for that, but it's not going to happen. If nothing else, one could use "one" to establish singularity when they use "they" later on.