<
https://medium.com/@mattbarros_42186/singular-they-and-neopronouns-91c40d38b6c8>
"Is the “woke left” destroying English?
Ben Shapiro seems to think so; the basic idea being that “they” is a plural
pronoun, and should only be used to refer to groups of people with two or more
individuals in them:
https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1174353226759622662
As Merriam Webster pointed out, however, the use of “they” to refer to a
singular individual has been accepted English since at least the 13th century.
Some of the greatest writers of the English language have used “they” as a
singular pronoun.
Shakespeare, to give just one example, writes:
There’s not a man I meet but doth salute me
As if I were their well-acquainted friend
(A Comedy of Errors, Act IV, Scene 3)
Here, “their” is the possessive inflection for “they” — but with a singular
antecedent: “a man.” Jane Austen, as well (from
Mansfield Park):
I would have everybody marry if they could do it properly
The antecedent for “they” here is “everybody,” which triggers singular
agreement on verbs (“Everybody” is a singular noun phrase): “Everybody is here”
(not “Everybody are here”).
The rule for singular “they” in English is that it is possible when its
antecedent’s identity or gender is irrelevant to the topic at hand, or unknown
to the interlocutors."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
