Re: Proposed Constitution
--On Mon, Apr 27, 1998 8:29 pm -0400 "Bob Hilliard" <hilliard@flinet.com>
wrote:
> Mark Baker <mbaker@iee.org> wrote:
>
>> "They" is not only a singular, it is also widely accepted as a singular
>> pronoun, and has been used as such by not only ordinary people but also
>> great writers for hundreds of years.
>
> All of my dictionaries give "nominative plural of he, she, or it"
> as the primary definition of "they". My unabridged dictionary adds
> "(used with an indefinite singular antecedent in place of the definite
> masculine he or definite feminine she)". The examples cited are for
> indefinite antecedents such as "anyone" or whoever". I do not think
> Project Leader is an indefinite antecedent.
Ha! My dictionary's bigger than yours ;-)
Oxford English Dictionary (Compact):
<quote>
They : pers. pron....
B.I.1 As pronoun of the third person plural...
[..]
2 Often used in reference to a singular noun made universal by the use of
every, any, or no, etc., or applicable to one of either sex ( = 'he or she'
).
</quote>
The project leader *is*, in this sense, an indefinite antedecent - the only
indefiniteness required is indefinite sex, which the project leader
possesses (no offence, Ian ;).
This is getting silly. I will reiterate my opinion. My opinion is that
'they', irrespective of grammatical accuracy, is to me an acceptable
alternative to 'he' which removes gender-bias without compromising the flow
of the text.
You need not agree :)
Yours,
Jules Bean
/----------------+-------------------------------+---------------------\
| Jelibean aka | jules@jellybean.co.uk | 6 Evelyn Rd |
| Jules aka | | Richmond, Surrey |
| Julian Bean | jmlb2@hermes.cam.ac.uk | TW9 2TF *UK* |
+----------------+-------------------------------+---------------------+
| War doesn't demonstrate who's right... just who's left. |
| When privacy is outlawed... only the outlaws have privacy. |
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