[bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: grammaical changes
- From: Soronel Haetir <soronel.haetir@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 06:23:58 -0800
I don't buy plural they being a mistake to begin with. Like so many
other grammatical 'rules' the stricture sprang out of a prescriptivist
world view rather than describing how people actually use language.
A reasonable starter link on the topic, with links to lots of other
matter on the subject:
http://158.130.17.5/~myl/languagelog/archives/001863.html
For the most part I also don't buy prescriptivism, especially when
talking about English, it simply isn't a fixed language. So you
aren't contributing to any sort of decline by such usage.
On 8/14/09, Cindy <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> To all you grammarians and those who care about the correct use of English,
> including me: I know that any one and someone and take a singular pronoun,
> but I'm giving in to the urge to use the plural (they, them,their) instead
> of he/she, his/her. I've been good up until now, but I'm getting lazy and
> using he/she or even (s)he is awkward. However, maybe it sets a bad example
> for our younger members/volunteers. Maybe when I use incorrect grammar I'll
> asterisk it. smile
>
>
>
>
>
--
Soronel Haetir
soronel.haetir@xxxxxxxxx
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