Comments on: Everybody Must Make Up Their Own Mind About “Their”

By: Cecily

Cecily — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:17:41 +0000

Singular they/their instead of s/he or whatever is not a PC or feminist thing but a practical acceptance of history and the fact it is useful, widely used and unambiguous.

It is NOT grammatically incorrect. The “rule” was invented by Anne Fisher, an 18th-century British schoolmistress who wrote a popular grammar book, but oddly, has a stronger hold on AmE than BrE.

Chaucer, Austen, Byron, Thackeray, Eliot, Trollope, Dickens and many others have used it routinely. Is your enjoyment ruined when you read these authors?

If “you” can be singular or plural, why the objections to “they”?

By: Mari Adkins

Mari Adkins — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:49:22 +0000

:applause for Peter: I second what you said wholeheartedly, sir! Glad you’re here.

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:54:20 +0000

And exactly in situations such as radio advertising, you really only have that option short of using one of the (ugh) artificial gender-neutral pronouns (e.g. e took er hat and left er house (I can’t remember the specifics)), because sexist language simply isn’t an option in this day and age.

Well, that’s just idiotic. The correct use of “he” as the gender-neutral pronoun is no way “sexist”. Grammatical gender has nothing to do with sex. I always want to slap people who say “she”. Variations on “they” only work when the subject is a “hidden plural” (there’s a similar grammatical construct in Latin, FWIW, where you use plural verbs with what appears to be a singular noun; I can’t remember what it’s called).

By: stephanie Acquah

stephanie Acquah — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:02:07 +0000

am pleading to help me use good grammar

By: mike

mike — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:13:38 +0000

I have no problem with the usage of “their.” Sometimes, however, I will try to switch it up. I have no problem using the feminine in this situation. I usually make a quick, glance of a vision in my head and stick with the gender that first appears.

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