Quote:
Originally Posted by BBCjunkie
Joe: "You won't believe what my neighbor did yesterday!"
Jane: "What did they do?"
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Joe: "You won't believe what my neighbor did yesterday!"
Jane: "What?"
See? It's unnecessary to use a plural pronoun with a singular antecedent. Anyone who says otherwise is merely unaware of the solutions. I am posting this to assist those who are unaware, because the confusion caused by disagreement of number can lead to a dangerous situation--all because ^some^ folks want to be gender neutral.
But get this: Has anybody noticed that this other but related business of specifying a person's pronouns is the very ^opposite^ of wanting to be gender neutral? It goes to show you that folks are allowing emotions to cause irrational behavior. This situation is extremely bad for the well-being of our country. We should be striving to maintain intelligent, responsible culture, instead of allowing emotions to destroy it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BBCjunkie
Bill Walsh, a copyeditor at the Washington Post, announced [in 2015] that the newspaper’s official style guide now allows the use of gender-neutral singular they. He called the use of they "the only sensible solution to English's lack of a gender-neutral third-person singular personal pronoun."
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" . . . the only sensible solution . . . "?!
He is either unaware of the solutions, of which there is an adequate number, or at the very least unwilling to embrace the solutions. It's hilarious that a "professional" newspaper person could be unaware of the solutions.
It is often unnecessary to use pronouns. We can reorder words, combine words, repeat words, imply words (i.e., be elliptical), use different descriptions, find ways to force the use of plural subjects, and so on. Just ^think,^ and in time you will find yourself being able to be gender neutral in ways that do not offend those who recognize the importance of, and who therefore defend, consistency of number.
If you would like a second solution, then here it is:
Joe: "You won't believe what my neighbor did yesterday!"
Jane: "What happened?"
See? We don't need to use pronouns; we just need to use our brains.