Re: pronouns and portfolios

[Sandy Harris <sandy -at- storm -dot- ca>]

jhamilton%XN_TECHNOLOGIES -at- xn-tech -dot- com wrote:

> #1--After reading part of one of Geoff Hart's replies, I got to thinking
> about the agreement issue in using the word "they" when you're talking
> about someONE.  For example,
> 
> <snip>
> if the writer is
> blaming Word, sit down with them and watch them write--assuming they'll let
> you do this. Maybe they're simply using the software the wrong way, and
> observing them will reveal this so you can explain the problem and help
> them
> to solve it.
> </snip>
> 
> I'm a student (and a tech writer intern), and we had a discussion about
> this in a grammar class where the teacher said using "they" as a pronoun
> for an unidentified someone may eventually become common usage.
> Personally, I think it's a great way to overcome the "s/he" conundrum,
> although I avoid it in my papers.  What do you think?

It is debatable whether this belongs on this list. Eric's guidelines say:

     * If it relates to _language use_ but not technical
       communication, it probably isn't appropriate. 
       Don't post it. 

However, this came up in your class and relates to a posting here, so
perhaps it does belong here.

Whether or not it is acceptable here, a better place for it might be in
the alt.usage.english newsgroup. Except they treat it as a FAQ, a question
that's been discussed many times before, so raising it again may not be
useful.

Checking their FAQ at www.faqs.org, I find:

Gender-neutral pronouns
-----------------------

   "Singular 'they'" is the name generally given to the use of
"they", "them", "their", or "theirs" with a singular antecedent such
as "someone" or "everyone", as in "Everyone was blowing their nose."
(It does not refer to the use of singular verbs in such mock-
illiterate sentences as "Them's the breaks" and "Them as has,
gets."  Any verb agreeing with a singular "they" is plural:
"Someone killed him, and they are going to pay for it.")

   Singular "they" has been used in English since the time of
Chaucer.  Prescriptive grammarians have traditionally (since 1746,
although the actual practice goes right back to 1200) prescribed
"he":  "Everyone was blowing his nose."  In 1926, Fowler wrote
that singular "they" had an "old-fashioned sound [...]; few good
modern writers would flout the grammarians so conspicuously."  But
in recent decades, singular "they" has gained popularity as a result
of the move towards gender-neutral language.

   For a defence of singular "they", with examples from Shakespeare,
Jane Austen, and others, see Henry Churchyard's page at
<http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~churchh/austheir.html>.  But note that
not all of us are as keen on singular "they" as Henry is.  Asked to
fill in the blank in sentences such as "A patient who doesn't
accurately report ___ sexual history to the doctor runs the risk of
misdiagnosis", only 3% of AHD3's usage panel chose "their".  AHD3's
usage note says:  "this solution ignores a persistent intuition
that expressions such as _everyone_ and _each student_ should in
fact be treated as grammatically singular."  An example from Fowler
wittily demonstrates how singular "they" never seems to agree
perfectly:  "Everyone was blowing their nose"?  "Everyone was
blowing their noses"?  "Everyone were blowing their noses"?

   Proposals for other gender-neutral pronouns get made from time to
time, and some can be found in actual use ("sie" and "hir" are the
ones most frequently found on Usenet).   Cecil Adams, in _Return of
the Straight Dope_ (Ballantine, 1994, ISBN 0-345-38111-4), says that
some eighty such terms have been proposed, the first of them in the
1850s.  John Chao (chao -at- hoss -dot- ee -dot- udel -dot- edu) was constructing a long FAQ
on this topic:  <http://www.lumina.net/OLD/gfp/>.

   Discussions about gender-neutral pronouns tend to go round and
round and never reach a conclusion.  Please refrain.

   (We also get disputes about the use of the word "gender" in the
sense of "sex", i.e., of whether a human being is male or female.
This also dates from the 14th century.  By 1900 it was restricted
to jocular use, but it has now been revived because of the "sexual
relations" sense of "sex".)

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