Is there a gender-neutral substitute for "his or her"? - Straight Dope Message Board

		Straight Dope Message Board > Main > Comments on Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
Is there a gender-neutral substitute for "his or her"?

Mark Forums Read

Prev

Previous Post

Next Post

Next

#1

Old

06-12-2012, 07:29 AM

PAFasdf

PAFasdf is offline

Guest

Join Date: Jun 2012

Is there a gender-neutral substitute for "his or her"?

***
As writer Deborah Cameron points out, the sentence "The man went berserk and killed his neighbor's wife" is unobjectionable on its surface. But stop to think: why "his neighbor's wife" instead of "one of his neighbors"?
***

Because his neighbor's wife doesn't live with that neighbor?

*******************************
LINK TO COLUMN: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/...for-his-or-her

Last edited by C K Dexter Haven; 06-13-2012 at 06:58 AM. Reason: Added link -- CKDH

Reply With Quote

Bookmarks

« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Switch to Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Threaded Mode

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts BB code is On Smilies are On [IMG] code is Off HTML code is Off

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:13 PM.