This is a neat article about linguistics. You should read it. - TopicsExpress



          

This is a neat article about linguistics. You should read it. Also, if youve ever taken issue with using they in the singular, get over it. ;) Language is fun and changeable! Using the plural pronoun for a singular meaning is actually very common in English: the originally-plural you got extended to mean a formal, singular you and ultimately completely annihilated thou, and even we can be used as singular if you’re pretending to be the Queen or Helen Mirren. But then, in the late 18th century, grammarians started recommending that people use he as a gender nonspecific pronoun because they was ostensibly plural, as part of the grand tradition of awkwardly shoehorning English grammar into Latin which has caused many of your present grammatical insecurities, and which I’m totally sure had nothing whatsoever to do with the patriarchy.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 22:39:40 +0000

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