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Subject:Re: women and men (was Re: Hey, take it easy!) From:Richard Lippincott <rlippinc -at- BEV -dot- ETN -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 18 Nov 1994 17:30:58 EST
This may be the dumbest thing I say all day (and that takes some effort...)
I've always assumed that the problem of gender -could- be solved by the use
of "they" and yet -not- violate singular/plural. Using some examples
that have been thrown about on the list:
* "when the player gets the blue chip he should throw it at the spoon" becomes
"Players that get blue chips should throw them at the spoon."
* "windborn garbage started to land on the wedding party, and they all ran
for cover" "windborn garbage started to land on the wedding party members,
and they all ran for cover" or "windborn garbage started to land on the
guests, and they all ran for cover" (I wasn't at the wedding, so I'm not
sure who got hit by garbage...)
* "someone shot at me, but they only managed to wound my cat" becomes simply
"someone shot at me, but only managed to wound my cat."
Singular/plural agreement, and still accurate so far as I can tell. Or have
I missed the point?
Rick Lippincott
Eaton Semiconductor
rlippinc -at- bev -dot- etn -dot- com
