RE: pronouns and portfolios--bringing it back tech writing

["Brian Hoskins" <bhoskins -at- oz -dot- quest -dot- com>]

It would seem that Bonnie belongs to the proscriptive school while I prefer
the descriptive one, and this is the nub of this whole argument. The problem
with making hard and fast grammatical rules is that they don't fit every
situation. (The same could be said for laws in general.) There is always a
need for interpretation. So many English grammar rules were invented by
classically trained thinkers of the eighteenth century and the use of the
singular "they" is among them. Other examples are the split infinitive and
ending a sentence with a preposition. (I have no intention of initiating a
debate on these two chestnuts so don't be tempted.) Where language is
concerned, there are no rules, just guidelines. In general, we follow those
guidelines to achieve clarity but there are occasions when the 'best' way to
say something is not necessarily the 'correct' way. The important thing to
achieve is clarity. What we write must be easily "understanden of the
people".

We must also accept that language changes over time. I personally regret the
change in the meaning of the word 'gay' but it has happened and I would not
try to fight it. As an amateur baritone, I used to sing that wonderful song,
"Girls were made to love and kiss" but I can't sing it now. A later stanza
goes:

"I will follow nature's way
Is it a crime the Good Lord made me gay."

The meaning has changed and that is the way of language. The use of the
singular "they", though an ancient usage, is a modern attempt to solve the
problem of the lack of a common pronoun in English and I would defend it for
lack of a better one. My wife, for whom English is a second language often
confuses "he" and "she" in everyday speech since in her own language, there
is no distinction. Perhaps we need to do the same and dump all of our
singular pronouns or agree on using only one. Unfortunately, the whole
debate on this subject has got mixed up by the equating of sex with gender.
In any sentence, the sex of the person to whom the pronoun refers is either
clearly marked and does not require the pronoun gender agreement or the sex
is unclear and requires a common pronoun.

"When a woman works, she does so earnestly"

"Unless a person takes a deal of exercise, they may soon eat more than does
them good."

I see it as a cop out to allow something in literary language but not in
other works. To me, the simple rule is if it's clear and will not jar the
reader's ear, then use it.

Having said all that, I personally prefer to use the second person in my
writing.

Regards

Brian


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Brian Hoskins
 Senior Technical Writer
 Quest Software http: //www.quests.com
 2/293 Camberwell Rd, Camberwell 3124
 Phone: +61 3 9811 8061 Fax: +61 3 9811 8099

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