Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Go, econ prof!

Way to go, old white male. Note the pronoun use.
"Capitation payment is too risky for a single doctor (what if a lot of her patients turn out to be very sick?)"

6 comments:

CrisTÓbal, Lord of the Flail said...

Boo, prof. Singular "they" ftw.

Becca Farnum said...

Oh, come on. He's of a generation that probably can't handle the grammatical evolution of a singular "they." I was impressed with the "her."

Anonymous said...

For instance, I know nothing of a"singular they". He must be of my generation.
Is this another example of changing the rules of grammar because people are too dumb to learn them?
Standards, people, standards!!!

granna

Becca Farnum said...

No, it's a way to make the singular gender-inclusive if folks either do not know the gender of the person referenced or that individual does not fall into the traditional "he" or "she" categories.

Charlie said...

Diolch ieithoedd duw esblygu.

Or, in English, "Thank God languages evolve."

(I don't think Granna is too dumb to learn Welsh, but I suspect she'll find it easier to understand the language she actually uses.)

:-)

p.s. I use the singular "they" all the time, even in writing. Sorry, Granna, but American has done changed on you.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I've also used it. I always felt that I had goofed when I caught it!

Now, I know- not a goof; just evolving.

Granna