Comments on: Needed: New Singular Possessive Adjective Combining “his” and “her”

By: Maryland, USA

Maryland, USA — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:27:29 +0000

As an undergrad in the mid 1970s, I lobbied my friends to adopt “hin” to mean “his or her”. I mentioned this to my Bachelor’s Advisor, Joseph M. Williams (who would go on to write Style: 10 Lessons in Clarity and Grace). “We already have a perfectuly serviceable ungendered singular possessive,” he said: ‘their’.”

Williams, who taught Theories of Language and History of the English Language, added that English is exceedingly resistant to new pronouns and new forms of address. The only modern exception, he noted, was Ms.

A Southerner once explained to me that y’all is just Southern for “youse guys.”

What I’d really welcome is a pair of ungendered words to signify “a male human” and “a female human,” regardless of age. For example, watching her husband and young son engage in a belching contest, a frustrated wife might sigh, “Just like two humanises!” I propose humanis and humana. Until then, about all we have is guys and gals.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:33:00 +0000

I’m glad no one has made the argument that “he” can simply be gender neutral. The following is an example (not originally mine) used as evidence that “he/him/his” is not

“When the average American wakes up, he turns off his alarm and starts his day. He will put on boxers or pantyhose. Next he will don jeans or a skirt, and put his keys in his pocket or his purse. Shaving or putting on lipstick is as second nature to him, and so he does it effortlessly.”

–

Of the strictly singular options, I prefer switching between genders when the subject changes. So, the first example/general writer might be female, the next male, and so on (though not necessarily switching every time, as keeping track of that might be more bother than it’s worth).

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 06 May 2010 07:00:07 +0000

Ick. I used to know someone who insisted on using a set of idiosyncratic “gender neutral pronouns” starting with “x” (I can’t remember what they were–something like xe for he/she, xer for him/her, xis for his/hers–but probably not precisely those) — in all situations, not just when the referent was “generic”.

I intend to stick with “he/him/his”, though.

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 22:45:20 +0000

I like “himer” and “hiser.”
Speaking of gender problems, how about using chairone when the sex of the chair person is not known? Examples: someone, no one, anyone.

By: billybobjoebob

billybobjoebob — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:50:07 +0000

i looked on google for Greek and Latin roots and found a possibility:
i propose that we use “unitain’ until an “official” grammatically and politically correct word is found. it combines the root “uni” meaning one and “tain” meaning hold. this should provide for a good alternative to “one’s”