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> no clear cut misuse and has been in use both informally and in English literature for centuries But disapproved by most style guides, school English teacher
by dctoedt 12y ago
> no clear cut misuse and has been in use both informally and in English literature for centuries
But disapproved by most style guides, school English teachers, etc., because it's inaccurate.
- eru 12y agoIf it's good enough for Jane Austen, it's good enough for me.
- dctoedt 12y ago> If it's good enough for Jane Austen, it's good enough for me. Imagine that your doctor wanted to bleed you to cure an infection, on grounds that bloodletting was accepted medical practice in Jane Austen's day. [1] (This is also a reply to Thomas's up-thread shoot-at-the-king comment, which has no Reply link for me.) [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting
- eru 12y agoMy argument was, of course, rather flippant. To put flesh on the skeleton, but remove the wit of brevity: I cite Jane Austen here not so much because her English was seen as exemplary in her time, but because we widely hold her as a premier role model today.
- dreamfactory2 12y ago> it's inaccurate Not according to Stephen Pinker, who I believe is considerably more authoritative than either of us when it comes to grammar and etymology.
- tptacek 12y agoAnd yet thou does use the word "you" routinely in its singular, which is also inaccurate, bearing the same relationship with "thou" as "they" does with "he", "she", or "it".
- dctoedt 12y ago> And yet thou does use the word "you" routinely in its singular, which is also inaccurate The singular you is seldom used as such in written language intended to be read by numerous others, so it's far less likely to be jarring or to cause confusion.
- tptacek 12y agoThou comest at the king, as it is said, and thou had best not miss: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002748.html http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002748.h...
- dctoedt 12y agoSee my comment down-thread about Jane Austen and bloodletting. (I'll stop now; we've hit diminishing returns.)
- idlewords 12y agoI'm going to use that first sentence as my stock rebuttal to everything from now on.
- tptacek 12y agoJust to be clear, it's Language Log that's Omar in this silly little metaphor. I was making an appeal to authority, but of a different sort than "yet another famous author using singular they". :)