I just hate it when people try to patiently explain to me that "they" is perfectly fine when the gender of the reference is unknown, as if I had never heard that horseshit before. Problem is, most uses of the singular they have perfectly defined references:
"if your husband beats you then they should go to jail"
Even writing that gives me a little twinge of headache.
I just hate it when people try to patiently explain to me that "they" is perfectly fine when the gender of the reference is unknown, as if I had never heard that horseshit before. Problem is, most uses of the singular they have perfectly defined references:
"if your husband beats you then they should go to jail"
Even writing that gives me a little twinge of headache.
What my mother and aunt used to joke about 50 years ago were the mysterious 'they' trendsetters. "Negronis are what 'they' are drinking in Manhattan now," my aunt would (only my brother and I weren't native New Yorkers). "Who are these 'they'?" my mom would ask with a smile. And they'd have some fun with the unidentified 'they' who were supposedly so much cooler, but no one knew who 'they' were:)
I remember when it began to annoy me, people would talk about government protections from frauds and dangers, "They wouldn't let that happen, would they?"
Who is "they" here?, I would ask. Blank look. "You know, uh, ..."
I learned Russian when I was 13 and I remember drawing a little grid, two columns, singular and plural, three rows, 1st, 2nd, 3rd person. I did the same later for Spanish, German, Italian, etc. Doesn't work in Asian languages like the one I speak here. English was missing one, taken by "y'all" in the south ... that's wrong, "you" is already formal/plural, it's "thou" that's missing, equivalent to ╤В╤Л, du, tu, tous ... the familiar/singular.
Then I noticed the "gender neutral" they. And immediately stopped using it, which didn't matter back then but now the generic "he" is regarded as putting women in leg irons.
I just hate it when people try to patiently explain to me that "they" is perfectly fine when the gender of the reference is unknown, as if I had never heard that horseshit before. Problem is, most uses of the singular they have perfectly defined references:
"if your husband beats you then they should go to jail"
Even writing that gives me a little twinge of headache.
What my mother and aunt used to joke about 50 years ago were the mysterious 'they' trendsetters. "Negronis are what 'they' are drinking in Manhattan now," my aunt would (only my brother and I weren't native New Yorkers). "Who are these 'they'?" my mom would ask with a smile. And they'd have some fun with the unidentified 'they' who were supposedly so much cooler, but no one knew who 'they' were:)
I remember when it began to annoy me, people would talk about government protections from frauds and dangers, "They wouldn't let that happen, would they?"
Who is "they" here?, I would ask. Blank look. "You know, uh, ..."
I learned Russian when I was 13 and I remember drawing a little grid, two columns, singular and plural, three rows, 1st, 2nd, 3rd person. I did the same later for Spanish, German, Italian, etc. Doesn't work in Asian languages like the one I speak here. English was missing one, taken by "y'all" in the south ... that's wrong, "you" is already formal/plural, it's "thou" that's missing, equivalent to ╤В╤Л, du, tu, tous ... the familiar/singular.
Then I noticed the "gender neutral" they. And immediately stopped using it, which didn't matter back then but now the generic "he" is regarded as putting women in leg irons.