my latest windmill to tilt at

[rone]

English already has perfectly useful gender-neutral pronouns: it, its. Use them. Do not use they, them for singular objects. Do not use the abhorrent, artificial 'hir', 'zie', 'blim', 'gur', or whatever. Yes, people can be called 'it'. Deal with it.

Comments

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

As you say, singular-"they" has been around for a while and i should get over it. But "it" is still around and is useful for any third-person singular use EXCEPT PEOPLE, which i find rather dumb. The lack of a unique second-person plural pronoun is similar, but it isn't like there's an existing one that is ignored in certain cases (although i think "y'all" is nearly acceptable).

Anyway, it's my damn fault for seeking consistency in English. I rue the day i ever learned to speak the damn thing.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Seeking consistency in the English language is like seeking scientific rigor in alt.sci.physics.new-theories.

In case anyone's wondering, in writing I usually rephrase to avoid the problem, and in informal speech I use singular "they".