Khur
Sympathy for the Devil
Re: Re: Re: More requests from Khur and...
Strunk and White's The Elements of Style (pages 60-61) makes an eloquent case for the use of "he" instead of "they". I'm not a stickler on this point, though I do notice that some editors for d20 companies are. (One listed that using they or theirs, instead of he or his, as his pet peeve.)
If any of you feel strongly about this point, let me know. To me, taking offense at facts of language structure is a bit absurd, but I want everyone to be comfortable and happy as well.
(EDIT) Some dictionaries (Webster's) list your suggestion as an alternative form (as does The Elements of Style while decrying it at the same time). Others clearly call this usage a problem (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition). The latter volume also states:
Without getting into the politics of universities and political correctness, accepted (or preffered, or encouraged) practice is not the same as correct. For example, it is common practice to use the word gender (the grammatical categories of “masculine,” “feminine,” and “neuter”) to refer to sexual identity. In English it's incorrect, nonetheless. (Although incorrect usage tends to mutate into correct usage over time.)kingpaul said:
Strunk and White's The Elements of Style (pages 60-61) makes an eloquent case for the use of "he" instead of "they". I'm not a stickler on this point, though I do notice that some editors for d20 companies are. (One listed that using they or theirs, instead of he or his, as his pet peeve.)
If any of you feel strongly about this point, let me know. To me, taking offense at facts of language structure is a bit absurd, but I want everyone to be comfortable and happy as well.
(EDIT) Some dictionaries (Webster's) list your suggestion as an alternative form (as does The Elements of Style while decrying it at the same time). Others clearly call this usage a problem (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition). The latter volume also states:
- The use of the third-person plural pronoun they to refer to a singular noun or pronoun is attested as early as 1300, and many admired writers have used they, them, themselves, and their to refer to singular nouns such as one, a person, an individual, and each.
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