21–30 of 44 posts
I don't understand the outrage over singular "they". I agree that it's not particularly logical, but what part of the English language is?? It sounds natural, at least. It's certainly widely used, and will likely become a "correct" form within a few decades. The OP suggests guessing gender from names. There are too many unusual cases and gender-neutral names to be able to guess gender from a name alone. Even ignoring…
Wasn’t that easy? No, because there are a reasonably large number of people, especially in Starbucks' home town, who want to be referred to as ze, zer, or one of a number of other gender-neutral, recently-minted pronouns. http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~writingcenter/Gender-Neutral_L... So now you either need to ask a user for their name and preferred pronoun, or just refer to them as "they".
Did you read the article? The point he made was, if you don't know which gendered pronoun to use, just use their name! "In a case like the generic email I got from Starbucks where the gender of the purchaser is likely unknown, the solution is even easier. Try this little programmatic trick: [$first_name] [$last_name] wanted to make your day so [$first_name] sent you a $20.00 USD Starbucks Card eGift to spend on your…
"John Smith wanted to make your day so John sent you a gift card."
That is not even remotely elegant.
Wasn’t that easy? No, because there are a reasonably large number of people, especially in Starbucks' home town, who want to be referred to as ze, zer, or one of a number of other gender-neutral, recently-minted pronouns. http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~writingcenter/Gender-Neutral_L... So now you either need to ask a user for their name and preferred pronoun, or just refer to them as "they".
Did you read the article? The point he made was, if you don't know which gendered pronoun to use, just use their name! "In a case like the generic email I got from Starbucks where the gender of the purchaser is likely unknown, the solution is even easier. Try this little programmatic trick: [$first_name] [$last_name] wanted to make your day so [$first_name] sent you a $20.00 USD Starbucks Card eGift to spend on your…
Gender neutral pronouns: they're here to stay[1].
[1] http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/lexicon_valley/2012/0...
"$NAME wants to make your day with a $20 gift card..."
The author here is incorrect. I also dislike namedropping random startups / people I've never heard of, or actually just namedropping in general.
Also: http://xkcd.com/326/
I would love to see the author try to seriously defend that assertion.
Wasn’t that easy? No, because there are a reasonably large number of people, especially in Starbucks' home town, who want to be referred to as ze, zer, or one of a number of other gender-neutral, recently-minted pronouns. http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~writingcenter/Gender-Neutral_L... So now you either need to ask a user for their name and preferred pronoun, or just refer to them as "they".
Did you read the article? The point he made was, if you don't know which gendered pronoun to use, just use their name! "In a case like the generic email I got from Starbucks where the gender of the purchaser is likely unknown, the solution is even easier. Try this little programmatic trick: [$first_name] [$last_name] wanted to make your day so [$first_name] sent you a $20.00 USD Starbucks Card eGift to spend on your…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did you read the article? The point he made was, if you don't know which gendered pronoun to use, just use their name! "In a case like the generic email I got from Starbucks where the gender of the purchaser is likely unknown, the solution is even easier. Try this little programmatic trick: [$first_name] [$last_name] wanted to make your day so [$first_name] sent you a $20.00 USD Starbucks Card eGift to spend on your…
Bleh. I think his "correction" is as 'horrific a travesty against language' as the original: "John Smith wanted to make your day so John sent you a gift card." That is not even remotely elegant.
Honestly, I'm surprised that:
a) He's writing this opinionated a post just to provide a solution which is that horrible.
b) He teaches English at UMCP. Pronouns in language are a difficult problem to solve at the best of times, and someone who proposes this sort of a 'bulletproof' solution of "Well, just Replace It with a Noun when you're confused!" worries me as an English professor.