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From: staplei@planet.mh.dpi.qld.gov.au (Ian Staples)
Subject: Re: them versus him/she, which is correct?
Message-ID: <DMpnyw.GrH@planet.mh.dpi.qld.gov.au>
Organization: Qld Department of Primary Industries
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References: <4f8gd9$o06@news.duke.edu> <4f8m5n$cpl@news.atlantech.net> <bert-0802960907120001@pm123.sonic.net> <4fm2pq$1d2@overload.lbl.gov> <bert-1202961634100001@pm184.sonic.net>
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 1996 11:01:43 GMT
Lines: 39

bert@sonic.net (Bert Clanton) writes:

>hughett@numbat.lbl.gov (Paul Hughett) wrote:

[Concerning the prospect of using a singular "they"}
>> 
>>    ...        If, for example, you wish to be considered an "educated
>> native speaker of English", (ENSE), you must follow the grammatical rules 
>> followed by the majority of other ENSE's. ...
i[...]
>> Now it must be admitted by the prescriptivists often mistake their rules
>> for the reality and often disagree among themselves as to what the
>> rules are ...

>What I propose is simply that the rules defining the ENSE version of
>English be modified to allow the use of "they" as the gender-neutral third
>person singular pronoun--thus bringing what is an extremely common
>colloquial usage into the realm of linguistic propriety. ...

But you can't "define" the rules when there is no arbiter other than
what is considered appropriate usage.  Perhaps the solution is for we
literate readers of this group to make the ultimate sacrifice and
adopt "they" as a genderless singular pronoun, thus surrendering our
status as an ENSE until the rest of polite society catches up.  ;-)

Cheers,  Ian S.

P.S.  I thoroughly enjoyed Paul's discussion of the problem.  But I'm
a little curious as the why he is still using the archaic "possessive
plural" -- "ENSE's" -- rather than the simpler modern form of "ENSEs".
Does he do this with other things such as years too: "the 1980's" 
versus "the 1980s" for example, I wonder.


-- 

Ian Staples                        E-mail : I.Staples@dpi.qld.gov.au
c/- P.O. Box 1054 MAREEBA          Phone  : +61 (0)70 928 555 Home 924 847
Queensland Australia 4880            Fax  : +61 (0)70 923 593   "   "   "
