Everybody Must Make Up Their Own Mind About Their

Everybody Must Make Up Their Own Mind About Their Everybody Must Make Up Their Own Mind About Their Everybody Must Make Up Their Own Mind About Their By Maeve Maddox The DWT Forum is enjoying a lively discussion of the problem of what do do about the political need to make writing gender neutral without writing such ugly constructions as s/he, he/she, he or she. Some readers still support the use of he in a general sense as was the practice until it came to be seen as a mark of patriarchal oppression. Others defend the use in the title of this post as having historical precedent. In general we recognize that using their with a singular antecedent is wrong, but we instinctively want to do it. Does that make us bad writers or bad people? Of course not. The use of their with a singular antecedent drives grammarians wild, but it is a living impulse in the language and it will triumph. Heres what the OED has to say about it: [their is] [o]ften used in relation to a singular n. or pronoun denoting a person, after each, every, either, neither, no one, every one, etc. Also so used instead of ‘his or her’, when the gender is inclusive or uncertain. (Not favoured by grammarians.) And here are a few examples the OED gives from the works of writers whose quality of writing is not usually denied: 1749 FIELDING Tom Jones VII. xiv, Every one in the House were in their Beds. 1771 GOLDSM. Hist. Eng. III. 241 Every person..now recovered their liberty. 1845 SYD. SMITH Wks. (1850) 175 Every human being must do something with their existence. 1848 THACKERAY Vanity Fair xli, A person cant help their birth. 1858 BAGEHOT Lit. Studies (1879) II. 206 Nobody in their senses would describe Grays ‘Elegy’ as [etc.]. 1898 G. B. SHAW Plays II. Candida 86 Its enough to drive anyone out of their senses. I have to confess that Im one of those writers who rewrites such sentences by putting everything into the plural, but I may pull in my horns when it comes to castigating those of my colleagues who decide to go with the flow. The spirit of English has a mind of its own. It despises such grammarian-inspired constructions as It is I. and One never knows, does one? but it doesnt at all mind Many an explorer lost their way. Meanwhile the battle continues in the abodes of English lovers such as DailyWritingTips. Visit the Forum and enter the fray! Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Definitely use "the" or "a"Latin Plural Endingsâ€Å"Least,† â€Å"Less,† â€Å"More,† and â€Å"Most†