RE: Apple permits "then" to be used as a coord. conjunction in instructions?

["Nuckols, Kenneth M" <Kenneth -dot- Nuckols -at- mybrighthouse -dot- com>]

Bonnie observed...

> 
> 
> > From: Kathleen [mailto:keamac -at- cox -dot- net]
> >
> > Bonnie,
> >
> > I'll be the first to bow to your superior grammatical expertise, 
> > because grammar isn't my strong point. But I thought I saw a note 
> > recently that "they" can be used in the singular and plural--was 
> > that
> historically
> > speaking or a recent development?
> >
> > OTOH: I don't agree with using "they" as singular; the sentences
> don't
> > make sense.
> >
> 
> I believe there's historical precedent for it back in the 14th and 
> 15th centuries, but if it was standard usage then (and I don't know 
> that to be the case), that certainly seemed to have changed by the 
> time you and I turned up. I also believe there are examples from 
> Shakespeare and others that are offered as "proof" that the usage is 
> correct.
> 
> I just know we're going to be talking a bit more about this now. ;
> )
> 

The whole problem comes from the fact that there is no "good" sex-less
singular pronoun in the English language to use when referring to
people.  Hundreds of years of usage have dictated that "it" is impolite
usage when referring to a singular person (i.e. the student walked
across the stage to receive its degree). 

Social consciousness has also finally convinced us that "he" or "him"
really _are not_ acceptable alternatives when talking about a person
whose sex is unknown (i.e. a motorist must present his identification on
demand to an officer of the law). So writers of English, in order to
avoid the clumsy "he or she" construction, or to avoid re-constructing
their sentence to use the somewhat pretentious sounding "one" (i.e. One
must put up barriers to keep oneself intact) sometimes substitute the
plural "they" for a singular pronoun. It's wrong, and it indicates
laziness or ignorance on the part of the writer and dilutes the value of
anything else _they_ might have to say. <grin> ;-p

For myself, when writing instructional procedures I always use the
implied (or sometimes explicit) "you." If I'm telling the reader how to
do something I expect that the reader is performing the actions;
therefore, I don't see any foolish reason why I should treat my reader
as though he or she (grrrr!) were some third person.

I've seen several academic and non-academic groups try to get behind
efforts to invent a gender-neutral pronoun to replace the "he or she"
and "him or her" clumsy, clunky, construction. My vote, is to adopt the
term "antidisestablishmentarianist" as a gender neutral subjective,
objective, and possessive pronoun and get rid of the clumsy "he or she,"
"him or her" and "his or hers" constructions once and for all.

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