On Tue, 22 Sep 2015 11:17:54 +0100 Geoff Winkless <pgsqlad...@geoff.dj> wrote:
> On 22 September 2015 at 10:52, Gavin Flower <gavinflo...@archidevsys.co.nz> > wrote: > > > On 22/09/15 21:33, Geoff Winkless wrote: > >> ?? > >> Without wanting to get into a grammar war, ?I'm not so sure I agree that > >> it "condones" it. Dictionaries reflect the current state of usage, they > >> don't act as arbiters of correctness. The abuse of "literally" as an > >> emphasiser (which usage is now listed in the OED) is a prime example. > >> > >> I would prefer "his or her" over "their". Perhaps our American cousins > >> might disagree though. > >> > >> I prefer "their" rather than "his or her", it is less clumsy & there is > > no point in specifying gender unless it is relevant! > > I agree in that I prefer "their" in informal speech; however in a formal > document I would find it sloppy.? I don't think "his or her" is inherently > clumsy; m > aybe I'm just showing my age.? > > Besides, some people are neither, or their biological gender is ambiguous - > > so a few people fit into neither the male nor the female category > > (depending on precise definitions, about 0.5%)! > > My understanding is that most intersex (and certainly all trans) people > would identify with one or the other, and even those who don't select > exclusively identify with a mix of both (and would therefore still be > covered by "his or her", no?) although I don't pretend to be an expert. > > Perhaps it would be easier to avoid the controversy by actually rewording > into the plural, where possible? > > So > > "any user can make such a change for his session." > > becomes > > "Users can make such a change for their individual sessions" > > or similar? +1 As an American/native English speaker, I find the use of the plural pronoun in combination with a singular noun (which is not grammatically correct) in formal writing to be sloppy and jarring to read. The change you suggest above reads more professionally while still avoiding offending anyone. -- Bill Moran -- Sent via pgsql-hackers mailing list (pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-hackers
