[WikiEN-l] Sexist pronouns

Fri Jul 18 07:21:37 UTC 2003

At 12:09 AM 7/18/2003, you wrote:
>Dante Alighieri wrote:
>
>>Why are people so unwilling to use "they" to mean "he/she"?
>
>Well, to some people it seems ungrammatical, since "they" hasn't been used 
>as a singular pronoun until very recently, so you end up with the "wrong" 
>verb tenses.  So when you say something like "They fall asleep as they 
>watch TV," it sounds very much like you're talking about multiple people.
>
>-Mark

Well, the OED disagrees with them. The OED not only lists this as a 
definition for "they":

Often used in reference to a singular noun made universal by every, any, 
no, etc., or applicable to one of either sex (= 'he or she')

but also gives the first recorded usage of the above sense as 1526. 
Personally, I think that gives the  usage sufficient grammatical "correctness".

-----
Dante Alighieri
dalighieri at digitalgrapefruit.com

"The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their 
neutrality in times of great moral crisis."
    -Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321