I thought this usage had been established for more than 400
years. But, since many people see it as an error, this could
still represent a reckless disregard for the "rules" on the part
of grammatically shell-shocked English speakers.

Then there is always "it" as an alternative:

To see now how a jest shall come about!
I warrant, an I should live a thousand years,
I never should forget it. ‘Wilt thou not, Jule?’ quoth he,
And, pretty fool, it stinted, and said ‘Ay.’

Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 3

Here, 'it' refers to a child of two, a little old for 'it' by
modern standards.

Mark

On Sun, Dec 25, 2011, at 12:45 PM, Geoffrey Layton wrote:

Just in case anyone doubts that "they" is fast becoming the new
default for the genderless third person singular pronoun, here's
an example from an email I just received from something called
"Spam Arrest":

  Thank you for verifying your email address with Spam Arrest!
  Your email has been forwarded to brian koepf's inbox. All of
  your
  future emails to brian koepf will also be delivered directly
  into
  their inbox.

Far better, I think, than the awkward "him/her, his/hers, he/she"
(which is also sexist - why should the masculine precede the
feminine?).


Geoff Layton

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