Thread: HE and SHE

Originally Posted by Eve

I think because many people have grown up reading 'he' all the time in books that when they see 'she or he/she' they get all in a tizz. But let's not forget that language & thought are tied, the things we read condition our thinging.

I am sure that someday, say, 500 years later, English will have a special pronoun with meaning "some person of unspecified sex".. I even can imagine etymology of this word "hershe -- from Early modern English 'he or she' "

Originally Posted by al

I am sure that someday, say, 500 years later, English will have a special pronoun with meaning "some person of unspecified sex".. I even can imagine etymology of this word "hershe -- from Early modern English 'he or she' "

There is one already. It is "they". But this way you should refer to people in plural. For example:

If customers came in and asked for "Take Off in Russian" I would tell them that we did not have it in stock.

It can be quiet tricky sometime but that's the most common way to avoid "he or she".

Originally Posted by MasterAdmin

Originally Posted by al

I am sure that someday, say, 500 years later, English will have a special pronoun with meaning "some person of unspecified sex".. I even can imagine etymology of this word "hershe -- from Early modern English 'he or she' "

There is one already. It is "they". But this way you should refer to people in plural. For example:

If customers came in and asked for "Take Off in Russian" I would tell them that we did not have it in stock.

It can be quiet tricky sometime but that's the most common way to avoid "he or she".

Nowadays, "they" is often used ot refer to one person. I think it was mentioned in a post or two in tihs thread.

"If a customer came in and asked for "Take Off in Russian", I would tell them that we did not have it in stock".

Originally Posted by translations.nm.ru

"If a customer came in and asked for "Take Off in Russian", I would tell them that we did not have it in stock".

True. I've heard such usage and it's getting popularer and popularer... Well, you see what I mean

As a result of this thread I've been thinking about my own use of these pronouns in my everyday speech, and I've come to the conclusion that, to me, using the plural is more a matter of style than of political correctness (something I'm most certainly not guilty of ).

'They', when obviously being used to describe a single person, has a connotation of impersonality and theoreticality, and lacks the implied specificity of 'he' or 'she'.

(sorry for that horrible last sentence. I don't talk like that in real life, honest)

Originally Posted by scotcher

(sorry for that horrible last sentence. I don't talk like that in real life, honest)

It's OK, Scotcher, you are British after all. It gives you away completely. Now I'm watching BBC films about Conan Doyle and they always talk like that.