Re: About the use of epicene "they" in technical documents.
Adeodato Simó <dato@net.com.org.es> wrote:
> * Andreas Tille [Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:15:56 +0200]:
> > Yes, and the funny thing about this is that I've always seen men very engaged
> > in this kind of discussion and I have the boring feeling that they are using
> > this as kind of excuse for not doing something else to make sitation of genders
> > equal.
>
> Whoa, is that a feeling or an accusation?
I see "feeling" clearly there on the second line. Why suggest Andreas
Tille is dishonest like that?
> And about doing something else, I personally think my time in this
> thread is time well spent. [...]
Yes, each to their own.
However, I think Andreas Tille is right: bodging language to use
"singular they" does not move us nearer to equality - it is a way of
hiding the struggle, while making the text less comprehensible.
I don't believe that language shapes thought, but that's an old
psycho-linguistic chestnut.
Regards,
--
MJ Ray (slef)
Webmaster for hire, statistician and online shop builder for a small
worker cooperative http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ http://mjr.towers.org.uk/
(Notice http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html) tel:+44-844-4437-237
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