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From: sue@cstr.ed.ac.uk (Susan Fitt)
Subject: Re: them versus him/she, which is correct?
Message-ID: <SUE.96Feb22145408@liddell.cstr.ed.ac.uk>
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Organization: Dept of Artificial Intelligence, Edinburgh University, Scotland
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Date: Thu, 22 Feb 1996 14:54:08 GMT
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   >>>:   Hello. Which statement is correct and which is not?
   >>>:   1. The salesperson is busy because he is with a 
   >customer.
   >>>:   2. The salesperson is busy because they are with a 
   >customer.

This thread is getting rather long, so I'm only quoting the original
question here.

Ignoring the question of which is "correct", and just dealing with
what people actually use, am I the only person here who would be
quite happy using 2 even if I knew the sex of the salesperson?
And for those who are getting ready to accuse me of being PC, this
isn't a contrived solution for me to avoid using "he", "he or she" 
or whatever, but natural usage.  I think, in fact, I would be happy 
using "they" in any sentence where the sex of the person is not evident 
from the sentence itself, and especially where the person is a stranger
to me.  So, I would use the following:

	The salesperson is busy because they are with a 
	customer.
	Someone was looking for you earlier but they didn't
	leave a message.	
	That cyclist looks a bit wobbly - mind you give
	them a wide berth.

even when I know full well the sex of the person.

However, I don't think I'd use:

	* The salesman is busy because they are with a 
	customer.
	* Your mother was looking for you earlier but they didn't
	leave a message.	
	* That man on the bike looks a bit wobbly - mind you give
	them a wide berth.

I guess is mainly a case of agreement of specified/unspecified gender 
with the subject, compounded by the fact that in many cases (except 
perhaps "someone looking for you") it's completely irrelevant what 
sex the person is anyway.

Avoiding sentences the issue by using sentences like:

	The salesperson is busy with a customer.

would only occur to me if I were writing something which would
be read by people who worry about such things.

Susan Fitt
Centre for Speech Technology Research
