Re:Show HN: I am building a next-gen browser
by pero on Saturday August 20, 2011 @12:58AM
(#2905795)
Don't know if this is intentional, but I really like the use of she in reference to the user in the blogpost. I've never seen that before and it's very refreshing, seemingly valorizing the user as if they were a country or a vessel. Consider it "borrowed"; thank you.
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Re:Show HN: I am building a next-gen browser
by Androsynth on Saturday August 20, 2011 @02:10AM
(#2905961)
It seems like everyone these days is using she. Its perfectly acceptable english to use 'they'. For example: Once a user is signed in, they are taken... Much better imo, as the gender is meaningless in that sentence.
Re:Show HN: I am building a next-gen browser
by losvedir on Saturday August 20, 2011 @02:57AM
(#2906043)
Absolutely. People complain about it being plural, but words in English have both number and gender, and I don't see why being "wrong" on the number is any worse than being "wrong" on gender.
That said, it's not "wrong" at all because English has a long history of using the word "they" for a generic pronoun. It's basically a different word from the "they" in "they are my friends", just written and pronounced the same.
Re:Show HN: I am building a next-gen browser
by yariang on Saturday August 20, 2011 @01:04AM
(#2905816)
Really? I see she used all the time. It doesn't necessarily valorize anything; it's just like using he for a hypothetical user.
Re:Show HN: I am building a next-gen browser
by ashraful on Saturday August 20, 2011 @01:30AM
(#2905870)
Years ago, I read an article (probably on HN) that advocated using "she" as a pronoun. The article itself was slightly sexist, reasoning that women will complain about gender equality when writers use "he" to refer to the reader, but men won't complain when "she" is used, but it was good advice.