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Subject:Re: So-Called Gender Bias in Language From:Sarah Perrault <sarah -at- TELEPORT -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 7 Aug 1995 00:23:42 GMT
In article <199508041714 -dot- KAA22065 -at- netcom4 -dot- netcom -dot- com>,
Karen Kay <karenk -at- netcom -dot- com> wrote:
>Okay, let's compromise on 'they'; that's also a fairly old custom in
>English.
And the language evolves. How many of us still say "electronic mail"
because "email" is not a "real" word? What about "bit"? As we were recently
reading here, that's a - what DID we decide to call it, contraction? - of
two words. If we can handle the flexibility in the language to encompass
new concepts, and to make old ones less unwieldy, why not also accept a
decent compromise that is already in common usage?