11 replies to this topic

[Iron Knuckle]

If you don't configure your status on your profile page it says: "'insert victim... I mean customer name here' has not set their status". But why the pluralis maiestatis?

Given that his/her can't be used for a default message, the term "shem" would be most appropriate for this. XD Is the person who made up these default messages, possibly either an admin or the board creator, of royal blood in our midst..?

[Selena]

"Their" is grammatically correct for a gender-neutral person.

I don't know if we can change it even if we wanted to, but... it's right. So I wouldn't. XD

[Iron Knuckle]

Ah, I see. If you put it that way I'd have to refer to Kitsune as "them" too. Then why the entire discussion about shem? XD

[Selena]

I didn't know there was one! It's just a slang word.

[Showsni]

[wisp]

"Their" is grammatically correct for a gender-neutral person.

I don't know if we can change it even if we wanted to, but... it's right. So I wouldn't. XD

Actually, it isn't. XD "Their" is plural and should really never refer to a single person at all; it's just used that way colloquially.

"He" or "him" is what was traditionally used for a gender-neutral pronoun, but it's become viewed as politically incorrect, hence the awkward usage of "their." >.>

[Egann]

Suggestion: Why not 'User has not set A status?'

When in doubt, don't mess with it.

EDIT: wisp is right, though. The subject and verb don't agree, so it's not correct grammatically. My mother was a technical editor, and she's beaten this into my brain with a deliberately blunted spork.

Edited by Egann, 26 April 2010 - 04:23 PM.

[Veteran]

'An hippopotamus' sounds horrible to me, yet is grammatically correct (I think). I shun an before consonents like I embrace their as the gender neutral pronoun! Viva la revolution!

[Selena]

I think this may actually be proof that, despite what we may be inclined to believe, English as a language is trying to make itself less insane over time. "He" as gender-neutral? Oh, that makes much more sense. XD

[Egann]

'An hippopotamus' sounds horrible to me, yet is grammatically correct (I think). I shun an before consonents like I embrace their as the gender neutral pronoun! Viva la revolution!

...Since when do you pronounce 'hippopotamus' with a silent 'h?'

[wisp]

Suggestion: Why not 'User has not set A status?'

When in doubt, don't mess with it.

EDIT: wisp is right, though. The subject and verb don't agree, so it's not correct grammatically. My mother was a technical editor, and she's beaten this into my brain with a deliberately blunted spork.

Pronoun and antecedent, not subject and verb.

/English teacher (can't help it; sorry XD)

*runs off to go tutor English..... no really, that's what I'm doing in 15 minutes*

[Egann]

There I've gone and soiled myself. Are you happy now?

[Keen]

'An hippopotamus' sounds horrible to me, yet is grammatically correct (I think). I shun an before consonents like I embrace their as the gender neutral pronoun! Viva la revolution!

I think this may actually be proof that, despite what we may be inclined to believe, English as a language is trying to make itself less insane over time. "He" as gender-neutral? Oh, that makes much more sense. XD

As much as I love "whom" and putting down dangling prepositions, I may have to agree that English is simply continuing to evolve. English is already mostly declension-free, and combining prepositions with verbs has been done at least since Latin.

While I may tolerate evolutionary improvements like the removal of "whom" and the compounding of prepositions and verbs, I cannot accept ridiculous abuses like using numerals in place of homophonous words. Anything that makes the language harder to learn ought to be phased out, I say.

So, where do I fall on this issue of adopting "they" as the singular neutral pronoun? It's all about utility. I think "it" already serves this function quite admirably, however "it" seems to bear a dehumanizing connotation. "He" completely fails in this regard, as it would generate both ambiguity and potentially offensive connotation. I do not mind being called "it." Being dehumanized sounds great.

[wisp]

Keen - I tend to agree; I'd rather be dehumanised by a pronoun than have my gender stripped away by it. (If only standard English agreed XD)

/feminist

[Veteran]

'An hippopotamus' sounds horrible to me, yet is grammatically correct (I think). I shun an before consonents like I embrace their as the gender neutral pronoun! Viva la revolution!

...Since when do you pronounce 'hippopotamus' with a silent 'h?'

Ah, whoops! Good job I added the (I think) as a get-out clause.

[Egann]

^ LOL. The a/ an rule is annoying. It doesn't even really apply to all words beginning with VOWELS. I caught the subtitles on a Naruto episode back in the day saying "an Uchiha." Normally all fine and dandy, but in this case U is pronounced like a Y acting like a consonant, so it's 'a Uchiha.' Can you say 'awkward?'

You know what, though. I really don't care about all this linguistic conventions business. Do you really expect me to say police officer or post-person when I can just say 'policeman' or 'postman?' I mean, if you could prove or even just make a convincing case that these cause real gender discrimination, that would be one thing, but as that most of that has gone away, what little is left is being steadily removed, and this linguistic matter of convenience is still around....is it really worth the effort of going through our whole language with a fine-toothed comb and nit-picking out all the little figures of speech we don't like? Oh, if we're doing that I can think of SEVERAL things I'd change, like our AM or PM nonsense; we should all use military time. Or right the direction being confusable with correct. Any chance these legitimate concerns I can demonstrate cause damage can get changed, too?

And while we're at it, I'd like to introduce a word for the way wet paper-machete, hung to dry after being drenched by one of Georgia's many midsummer blizzards smells.