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Pastimes : SI Grammar and Spelling Lab -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Chuzzlewit who wrote (974)	3/31/1998 1:57:00 AM
From: Sowbug	Respond to of 4711

"Send in your child's name and we will tell you whether they are a winner." In 1987 I was graduating from high school and our Assistant Principal distributed a memo to the honor students telling us how to get from our seats to the podium. In the words of Huck Finn, I disremember the exact words, but it was something like this: "At that point, each student will lead themself to the podium." Neither before then, nor after then, have I seen a more cacophonous use of a member of the "they" family. And "themself" isn't actually even in the family -- it's a mutant! I wanted to say something to the A.P., but I felt my graduation hung in the balance, so I shut up. Jack Clarke has pretty fairly reconciled the "him/her" camp and the "they" camp (you and I are both in the former camp). I won't try to paraphrase his position, but I remember that I felt a little better after reading what he had to say.

To: Chuzzlewit who wrote (974)	3/31/1998 2:02:00 AM
From: Wizzer	Respond to of 4711

Here's an amusing one from the news. An anchor on City TV in Toronto, was talking about a serious illness. She started to say, "It is a very debili...debili...debilit...a really bad disease". She was trying to say debilitating and could not say it. I had a good laugh over it. Paul, is it the "they" or the "child's" part that you find in error?

To: Chuzzlewit who wrote (974)	3/31/1998 1:35:00 PM
From: Achilles	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4711

Actually, Paul, using 'they' or 'them' in such cases is acceptable usage. Webster's 3d International Dictionary (1961), s.v. 'they', 1b: "'he or she': he 2 - used with an indefinite singular antecendent <everyone tries to make the person they love just like themselves>.". (It has nothing to do with Political correctness; the fact that 'everybody' et sim. are singular is not at issue) You said: Sowbug, here is one of my biggest annoyances. People routinely sacrifice good English for political correctness. I heard an ad on TV tonight that advised to "Send in your child's name and we will tell you whether they are a winner." Maybe I'm being picky, but I hear this error with annoying regularity from people who should know better -- people like school teachers and newscasters. You also hear the same error with the following words (which are all singular): Everbody Everyone Every (anything)