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them; nonsense
Topic Started: May 15 2006, 06:08 AM (254 Views)
pianojerome
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HOLY CARP!!!
"Pick a partner, and then tell them your name."

"If you could meet one celebrity, whom would you choose and what's the first thing you would tell them?"

"Who do you think should be the next president, and why do you think they would be a good president?"

---

Nonsense!

Why do so many people use the word 'they' or 'them' to refer to only one person?

Yes, I know, it's supposed to be 'politically correct', right? Wouldn't want to offend by using 'him', or to make the mistake of using 'him' if the person turns out to be a girl. But even 'that person' would make so much more sense than 'they' or 'them.'

:rolleyes2:
Sam
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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
It's just what's acceptable now. For example, "I'll contact you" is still bad grammar, but it's been used consistently by so many people, it's now become standard practice.

What would be more correct than using "they" in most situations would be to just pick a gender, and be consistent. Him or her; it doesn't matter, so long as you keep it the same throughout.
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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pianojerome
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HOLY CARP!!!
Well, my question isn't really about changed meanings. I can understand how 'contact' came to be a verb; I can understand how 'impact' came to be a verb.

What I'm having trouble understanding is how 'they' came to be used to refer to only one person.

I know the PC context, but why 'they' and 'them'? It doesn't make any sense to me.
Sam
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kenny
HOLY CARP!!!
Don't be too upset.
Them languages are constantly evolving.
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pianojerome
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HOLY CARP!!!
Kenny,

At least in your joke, 'them' and 'languages' are both plural.

"The English language is constantly changing, because they are a language and those are what languages do."



"I want a sandwich, and put them on my plate for me."
Sam
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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
pianojerome
May 15 2006, 07:19 AM
Well, my question isn't really about changed meanings. I can understand how 'contact' came to be a verb; I can understand how 'impact' came to be a verb.

What I'm having trouble understanding is how 'they' came to be used to refer to only one person.

I know the PC context, but why 'they' and 'them'? It doesn't make any sense to me.

I really don't know what to tell you, PJ. :shrug: Many things don't make sense to me. But, bad grammar or not, the sun will probably rise tomorrow.
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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John D'Oh
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MAMIL
Aqua Letifer
May 15 2006, 11:27 AM

I really don't know what to tell you, PJ.  :shrug:  Many things don't make sense to me.  But, bad grammar or not, the sun will probably rise tomorrow.

Not in New England it won't. I blame the Kennedys, what's left of 'em. God finally decided that Teddy needed more water with it, and boy, are we getting it.
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
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Matt G.
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Middle Aged Carp
This phenomenon has nothing to do with political correctness, rather, it is a symptom of English's lack of a single neuter personal pronoun. This use of "them" and "they" in the singular is more expedient than the more grammatically correct "him or her" or "he or she" constructions. However, it certainly beats using "it" instead!

This has been going on for centuries; it is not a new thing.
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
Per OED:
Quote:
 
2. Often used for ‘him or her’, referring to a singular person whose sex is not stated, or to anybody, nobody, somebody, whoever, etc.
The dogma lives loudly within me.
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dolmansaxlil
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HOLY CARP!!!
Today I had a 20 minute block of coverage I had to do for a grade 7/8 teacher. Shortly before I arrived, the French teacher handed back a test. Many of the kids were having difficulty deciding whether to use the masculine or feminine plural pronoun for groups. She explained that in a group of all women, you use the feminine, but in a mixed group - even if it is 1000 women and ONE man, you use the masculine.

I had a game planned for the 20 minutes, but instead we had a 20 minute discussion about this issue. Every kid - including the ones who aren't normally big on speaking in front of a group - willingly participated - most of them were quite passionate about it.

I love my job.
"Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst." ~ Henri Cartier-Bresson

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FrankM
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"Why do so many people use the word 'they' or 'them' to refer to only one person?"

similar thing happened when the plural "you" replaced the singular "thou."

So much fun trying to make it clear you're addressing the group, not an individual, when using "you" in speech. Of course, the South USA solved that problem nicely. :wink:
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Riley
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HOLY CARP!!!
FrankM
May 15 2006, 06:26 PM
the South USA solved that problem nicely. :wink:

And let's all hope that doesn't catch on elsewhere. :lol:
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DivaDeb
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®1LE¥
May 15 2006, 03:02 PM
FrankM
May 15 2006, 06:26 PM
the South USA solved that problem nicely.  :wink:

And let's all hope that doesn't catch on elsewhere. :lol:

y'all are snots!

:P
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jon-nyc
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Cheers
english lacks a gender-inspecific singular pronoun.

even in the south. (y'all doesn't work either)


some of us proscriptive grammarians continue to say 'he' or 'he or she'.

the descriptive grammarians act as apologists for 'they/them' as a singular pronoun.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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