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Re:Open Source Time-of-Flight DIY Lidar by regularfry on Thursday March 12, 2020 @04:24AM (#22554809)
"They" can be singular.
Re:Open Source Time-of-Flight DIY Lidar by iliasam on Thursday March 12, 2020 @04:27AM (#22554821)
Thanks, I have never heard about it.
Re:Open Source Time-of-Flight DIY Lidar by regularfry on Thursday March 12, 2020 @04:34AM (#22554858)
Not a problem. Every so often this otherwise unremarkable grammatical point becomes somewhat contentious, but it's easy to see how it can be confusing if English isn't your first language. There's more here: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002748.h...
Re:Open Source Time-of-Flight DIY Lidar by C1sc0cat on Thursday March 12, 2020 @06:10AM (#22555278)
I just love the line

"This use of they isn't ungrammatical, it isn't a mistake, it's a feature of ordinary English syntax that for some reason attracts the ire of particularly puristic pusillanimous pontificators, and we don't buy what they're selling."

Re:Open Source Time-of-Flight DIY Lidar by hackonr on Thursday March 12, 2020 @05:21AM (#22555074)
Is it common? I have never seen it in singular context in English grammar textbooks.
Re:Open Source Time-of-Flight DIY Lidar by numpad0 on Thursday March 12, 2020 @05:34AM (#22555141)
Actually incorrect in textbook sense, but widely accepted in recent years to avoid specifying gender.
Re:Open Source Time-of-Flight DIY Lidar by nicoburns on Thursday March 12, 2020 @08:43AM (#22556188)
Also in less recent years. They has always been used in the singular in cases where gender is not apparent (e.g. with babies)
Re:Open Source Time-of-Flight DIY Lidar by regularfry on Thursday March 12, 2020 @08:57AM (#22556297)
And also where it is:

    There's not a man I meet but doth salute me
    As if I were their well-acquainted friend
- A Comedy of Errors, Act IV, Scene 3
Re:Open Source Time-of-Flight DIY Lidar by regularfry on Thursday March 12, 2020 @08:54AM (#22556272)
Widely accepted back at least as far as Shakespeare. The objection that it's incorrect is what's recent.
Re:Open Source Time-of-Flight DIY Lidar by C1sc0cat on Thursday March 12, 2020 @06:08AM (#22555270)
For example "they must have forgotten to add the catch all redirect in the .htaccess file"
Re:Open Source Time-of-Flight DIY Lidar by Bjartr on Thursday March 12, 2020 @09:24AM (#22556527)
English grammar textbooks started excluding it because doing so made the language more like Latin and this was considered a good thing.
Re:Open Source Time-of-Flight DIY Lidar by gsich on Thursday March 12, 2020 @06:06AM (#22555257)
It's misused for that. It's not correct grammatically and leads to confusion for non-native english speakers.
Re:Open Source Time-of-Flight DIY Lidar by DennisP on Thursday March 12, 2020 @09:07AM (#22556363)
The Oxford English Dictionary disagrees with you: https://public.oed.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-singular-they...
Re:Open Source Time-of-Flight DIY Lidar by gsich on Thursday March 12, 2020 @11:05AM (#22557593)
Not really.