A few weeks ago, the American Dialect Society announced the 2015 Word of the Year: the singular “they.” (Lest anyone doubt the authority of the American Dialect Society, let me point out that its “word-of-the-year” event is “the word-of-the-year event up to which all others lead,” according to the—wait for it—website of the American Dialect […]
non-sexist pronouns
The Pronoun Problem
What to do about gender neutrality? It was so easy when I was growing up. We were taught that “he” referred to all humans, of either sex, and we believed it. In fact it didn’t and, as an excellent analysis I just came across points out, throughout history it hardly ever has. (Carolyn Jacobson, the University […]