When referring to people who for some reason have not had their gender revealed to you typically we write he/she or she/he to point out the ambiguity.
Personally, I am so tired of doing that! We’ve passed the Equal Rights Amendment, we’ve created Ms. as a way of disguising the marital status of women so that status cannot be used to discriminate. Why can’t we come up with a gender-neutral alternative for he and/or she?
Before you say it, yes, I know there is “it.” However most people would object to being called ‘it.’ (Because of the Addams family association??)
And yes, we can mix singular and plural up and use “they,” but that doesn’t always work (although it’s especially good for those with multiple personalities – and some people might take offense because of that!).
Did I miss it on that day I skipped English class?
Do you agree that we would be better off with a Gender-neutral second person personal pronoun in English?
Is there something you use already that works?
Yes, I am injecting small amounts of humor to keep the thread light, but I am serious about wanting to find an answer.
There already is a gender-neutral second-person pronoun in English, and it’s fairly widespreade: You. As a bonus, it’s the same if the subject is singular or plural (unless you’re from the south).
If you mean a gender-neutral third-person pronoun, I’m partial to Damon Knight’s “yeye.”
At one time, the singular “they” was fingernails on the chalkboard to my ears.
I have mellowed since.
I still refuse to use it, but I secretly hope that its common usage becomes more common still, to the point where journalists begin to use “they” for singular individuals. In short order, the singular “they” will become a first class citizen in the English language and we will then be able to use it with a clear conscience.
Forgot to engage the brain before putting my mind in gear.
Thanks for the RealityCheck RealityChuck!
As far as yeye, it’s too much like ye for me.
I looked through the list provided by Inigo Montoya (you killed my father, prepare to die), and nothing there did much for me, except the 1890/1977 “e.”
I want it to be easier and easily recognizable, and if I started using “e” it might be construed as a misspelling, but I think it would be understood.
I’m going to try it, even though e said it would be an exercise in futility.
I think it would be nice to have a neuter pronoun. I happened to be partial to “Ni” or “Ne” (pronounced to rhyme with he/she).
I could imagine saying, “Someone left ner backpack here when ni left” to mean “Someone left his/r backpack here when s/he left.”
“Ner” could serve as both possessive and accusative, along the lines of “her.” Alternatively, one could use “himr” (pronounced himmer) for the accusative case and “hisr” (hizzer) for possessive:
“Someone left hisr backpack in here and I’d like to give it back to himr.”
I think I’ve thought about this a little too much.
Bingo. I was going to ask for the context and then rephrase whatever required such a word, which is one of two options as I see them. The other is a variation on the same and involves making the “offending” party plural so that “they” can be used.
Any attempt to create or introduce a word that people aren’t familiar with and already using is an exercise in futility (“yeye?” “ni?” give me a break!). As it is, we have several choices already in use:
“he or she”
“they”
“he” (default gender, understood to not specify the person’s sex)
Take your pick from those and at least you’ll be understood by nearly everyone.
The poly community (where one often needs such a thing) tends to use “zie” and “zir” (possessive). It sounds utterly weird when you first run across it, but the more it’s used, the more you get used to it.
I agree that “they” should be used. It’s already used by lots of folks; it’s not some neologism doomed to failure; everyone will understand what you mean when you use it.
As Gary T points out, there are only two other real alternatives:
He or she does the trick, but it’s clunky, especially when ya gotta use it multiple times in rapid succession.
“He” by itself is going to be accepted most often by anal-retentive (is that hyphenated?) prescriptivist grammar-types, but it really does suggest that the person you’re referring to is male.
Don’t believe me? Tell me whether the following grammatically correct sentence sounds right to you:
“Although Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, George Michael, and Madonna were all crappy artists, each had his own massive following during the eighties.”
Well, since the subject is clearly plural in your example (Tiffany et al.), no one is going to object to using “their” since it is grammatically correct.
The supposed controversy is when the subject is indefinite singular. Of course, there is no real controversy; as I indicated above, English has had a perfectly workable workable solution for hundreds of years.