Re: Can we ditch the silly political correctness in reg articles
Actually, since "they" is plural, not singular, using "they" as if it were a gender-neutral singular pronoun is both ungrammatical and an example of "silly student union-level language politics".
This is wrong in so many ways it's really quite impressive.
Since English pronouns do not have plural inflections, their number is solely a matter of usage, not grammar. So "they" is neither plural nor singular except in context. And "ungrammatical" (insofar as it means anything in English, which is not very far at all) is completely incorrect; if singular-they were any sort of error at all, it would be an error of usage.
Questions of the political aspects of language use have been taken up, at length, by people far more knowledgeable and insightful about language use than the inhabitants of student unions. The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) published its first set of guidelines for non-sexist usage in 1971, and has amended it ever since; and as a body I am quite confident they know a great deal more, and have spent a great deal more time considering, language use than the entire Reg commentariat - astounding as the thought might be to some of our august members.
And as for whether they are "silly", with or without your scare quotes: I know what their credentials are, Mr Savard. What are yours?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
