Originally Posted By: zmjezhd
The use of they/their as an epicene pronoun for the third person singular in English is nearly a millennium old.

A good place to read up on they with singular antecedent is the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, free online at Google Books (link), pp.901f.

My favorite uses of the epicene they are from the Bible: e.g., So likewise shall my heauenly Father doe also vnto you, if yee from your hearts forgiue not euery one his brother their trespasses. Matt. 18:35. KJV. (See Language Log link).

Yous truly has even had a sarcastic something (link) to say about this grammatical feature of English.


As your Language Log link points out, there is Divine Variation in the Bible. I don't think there is a right answer on this issue; in many instances which could be brought out, singular they just seems... off.

old adage:
He who laughs last, laughs best.
recast,
They who laughs last laughs best.
This just doesn't have the same thrust.

you could say that every U.S. president has had to make their own difficult choices. but every U.S. president (to date) has been male, so this sounds somehow better: every U.S. president has had to make his own difficult choices.