Hi, Ardith Hinton : Alexander Koryagin!
I read your message from 04.03.2019 14:42

 AK>> I found in Wikipedia information that "they" can be
used as single
 AK>> pronoun:

 AK>> _SINGULAR THEY_ is the use in English of the pronoun _they_ or its
 AK>> inflected  or  derivative  forms,   _them_,   _their_,   _theirs_,
 AK>> and _themselves_ (or _themself_),  as an epicene  (gender-neutral)
 AK>> singular  pronoun.   It  typically  occurs  with  an   unspecified
 AK>> antecedent, as in sentences such as:

 AK>> "_The patient_ should be told at the outset how much  _they_  will
 AK>> be required to pay." "But _a journalist_ should not
be  forced  to
 AK>> reveal _their_ sources."

 AH> I can see some justification for it here, because it is easier than
 AH> writing "s/he" and "him/her" or trying to
reason with a person  who
 AH> feels their (!) gender is being ignored although they don't  notice
 AH> when the shoe is on the other foot.  My CANADIAN  OXFORD,  however,
 AH> lists "themself" as "disputed". :-)

I remember that in Russia a tsar used plural pronouns for a single person.
He wrote his decrees in the following way: "We, the great tsar of
Russia, declare..."

 AK>> The singular _they_ had emerged  by  the  14th  century,  about  a
 AK>> century after plural _they_.  It has  been  commonly  employed  in
 AK>> everyday English ever since then,  though it has become the target
 AK>> of criticism since the late-19th century.

 AH> Hmm.  Fowler's cites some evidence in support of this idea, but I'm
 AH> doubtful "they" was  commonly  used  as  a  gender-neutral  pronoun
 AH> between the late 1900's & the 1960's or early  1970's...  when  the
 AH> feminists adopted  it...  except  maybe  when  people  thought  the
 AH> government should fix something.  Typically when grammarians  voice
 AH> an objection they encounter more popular resistance.... :-Q

It is difficult to fight with people when they have a bad habit. I remember
a thing from Pygmalion, by Bernard Shaw:
-----Beginning of the citation-----
HIGGINS.  How the devil do I know what's to become of you?  What does it
matter what becomes of you?

LIZA. You don't care. I know you don't care.  You wouldn't care if I was
dead. I'm nothing to you -- not so much as them slippers.

HIGGINS [thundering] THOSE slippers.
----- The end of the citation -----

I still cannot see the logic why she used _them_ instead of _those_. ;-) It
is not a kind of error a Russian could make. :)

 AK>> Its use in formal English has become more common  with  the  trend
 AK>> toward gender-neutral language,

 AH> It has become more common in recent years, but not because the mood
 AH> at the time of its resurgence took into account that our  ancestors
 AH> knew things we might well pay attention to.  Quite the  contrary...
 AH> Jerry Rubin,  e.g.,  made headlines when he advised other folks not
 AH> to trust anybody over 30.  I suppose they must  have  followed  his
 AH> advice because he doesn't make headlines now. ;-)

I imagine what does a foreign student think when he hears the sentence like
the first sentence in last paragraph. ;) After reading it ten times I think
I understood what you meant. ;=)

Bye, Ardith!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2019

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