Singular They
December 28th, 2009
Donkeylicious has a post citing the Bard for the use of they as singular, which is both convenient and technically forbidden. Having had a talk with a professor about this very issue. (I hadn’t done it, but I’d screwed up my use of ‘effect’ which was embarrassing for an English major.) This needs to become accepted. I had no idea that Shakespeare had done this, and am glad it was pointed out. The other options, as they point out in the post, are either inadequate or absurd. Fifty years from now, they will be available for use as singular. The question is really how long it takes to get there.
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