Reminding Starbucks that Beautiful Code Should Make Beautiful Language

Post by aaronbrethorst » Wed, Jul 17, 2013, 6:26 PM UTC

kyllo wrote: post #18

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #11

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…

Post by Gormo » Thu, Jul 18, 2013, 1:24 AM UTC

ronaldx wrote: post #6

I dislike the premise of this article. All the alternatives have worse disadvantages: - repeating the name "Matt" is awkward - gender is an awkward requirement for sending a giftcard - assuming someone is male unless they are known to be female is awkward - "he/she" is awkward And, crucially: - singular they is widely used and understood and has significant historical precedent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_…