Re:Open Source Time-of-Flight DIY Lidar
by regularfry on Thursday March 12, 2020 @04:24AM
(#22554809)
"They" can be singular.
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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...
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."
Is it common? I have never seen it in singular context in English grammar textbooks.
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.
For example "they must have forgotten to add the catch all redirect in the .htaccess file"
English grammar textbooks started excluding it because doing so made the language more like Latin and this was considered a good thing.
It's misused for that. It's not correct grammatically and leads to confusion for non-native english speakers.
The Oxford English Dictionary disagrees with you: https://public.oed.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-singular-they...