MSGID: 2:221/6.0 5c7e2302   
   REPLY: 1:153/716.0 c7d73eb0   
   PID: JamNNTPd/Cygwin32 1.3 20190208   
   CHRS: CP866 2   
   TZUTC: 0200   
   TID: hpt/w32-mvc 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   Hi, Ardith Hinton : Alexander Koryagin!   
   I read your message from 04.03.2019 14:42   
      
    AK>> I found in Wikipedia information that "they" can be used as single   
    AK>> pronoun:   
      
    AK>> _SINGULAR THEY_ is the use in English of the pronoun _they_ or its   
    AK>> inflected  or  derivative  forms,   _them_,   _their_,   _theirs_,   
    AK>> and _themselves_ (or _themself_),  as an epicene  (gender-neutral)   
    AK>> singular  pronoun.   It  typically  occurs  with  an   unspecified   
    AK>> antecedent, as in sentences such as:   
      
    AK>> "_The patient_ should be told at the outset how much  _they_  will   
    AK>> be required to pay." "But _a journalist_ should not be  forced  to   
    AK>> reveal _their_ sources."   
      
    AH> I can see some justification for it here, because it is easier than   
    AH> writing "s/he" and "him/her" or trying to reason with a person  who   
    AH> feels their (!) gender is being ignored although they don't  notice   
    AH> when the shoe is on the other foot.  My CANADIAN  OXFORD,  however,   
    AH> lists "themself" as "disputed". :-)   
      
   I remember that in Russia a tsar used plural pronouns for a single person. He   
   wrote his decrees in the following way: "We, the great tsar of Russia,   
   declare..."   
      
    AK>> The singular _they_ had emerged  by  the  14th  century,  about  a   
    AK>> century after plural _they_.  It has  been  commonly  employed  in   
    AK>> everyday English ever since then,  though it has become the target   
    AK>> of criticism since the late-19th century.   
      
    AH> Hmm.  Fowler's cites some evidence in support of this idea, but I'm   
    AH> doubtful "they" was  commonly  used  as  a  gender-neutral  pronoun   
    AH> between the late 1900's & the 1960's or early  1970's...  when  the   
    AH> feminists adopted  it...  except  maybe  when  people  thought  the   
    AH> government should fix something.  Typically when grammarians  voice   
    AH> an objection they encounter more popular resistance.... :-Q   
      
   It is difficult to fight with people when they have a bad habit. I remember a   
   thing from Pygmalion, by Bernard Shaw:   
   -----Beginning of the citation-----   
   HIGGINS.  How the devil do I know what's to become of you?  What does it   
   matter what becomes of you?   
      
   LIZA. You don't care. I know you don't care.  You wouldn't care if I was   
   dead. I'm nothing to you -- not so much as them slippers.   
      
   HIGGINS [thundering] THOSE slippers.   
   ----- The end of the citation -----   
      
   I still cannot see the logic why she used _them_ instead of _those_. ;-) It is   
   not a kind of error a Russian could make. :)   
      
    AK>> Its use in formal English has become more common  with  the  trend   
    AK>> toward gender-neutral language,   
      
    AH> It has become more common in recent years, but not because the mood   
    AH> at the time of its resurgence took into account that our  ancestors   
    AH> knew things we might well pay attention to.  Quite the  contrary...   
    AH> Jerry Rubin,  e.g.,  made headlines when he advised other folks not   
    AH> to trust anybody over 30.  I suppose they must  have  followed  his   
    AH> advice because he doesn't make headlines now. ;-)   
      
   I imagine what does a foreign student think when he hears the sentence like   
   the first sentence in last paragraph. ;) After reading it ten times I think I   
   understood what you meant. ;=)   
      
   Bye, Ardith!   
   Alexander Koryagin   
   english_tutor 2019   
      
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