Wordsmith Talk |
About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us | |||
You are not logged in. [Log In] Wordsmith.org Forums Miscellany Her/him, his/hers/ s/he or 'their(s)'? Register Forums Calendar Active Threads Search Forum Help
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2
#214682 - 04/10/14 05:50 AM Her/him, his/hers/ s/he or 'their(s)'?
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 2 Mercur10![]()
stranger![]()
stranger
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 2
Victoria, Australia I'd like to suggest 'herm' for either him or her, and herms for hers or his, or the possessive without an apostrophe.
This would be not only a logical replacement for the clumsy plural 'their' when referring to a singular someone, but lexically apt, since a herm is a) a bust of Hermes (Mercury), the god of communication, raised as a boundary marker, or b) a person with both testes and ovaries.
I know we SAY 'their(s)' and it's understood as either singular or plural, but that's colloquial. In a court of law it can be significantly misleading to say 'their(s)' when the sex and number of suspects is unknown.
#214683 - 04/10/14 10:38 AM Re: Her/him, his/hers/ s/he or 'their(s)'? [Re: Mercur10]
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 Faldage![]()
Carpal Tunnel![]()
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 In the court of law it's OK to be clumsy and awkward as long as you*'re very clear about what you* mean. In normal language invented ways of handling the singular they situation are traditionally very unsuccessful. Standard singular they, however has been with the language for a long, long time, and is generally less subject to ambiguity than singular you.
*Singular or plural you.
#214706 - 04/14/14 03:14 AM Re: Her/him, his/hers/ s/he or 'their(s)'? [Re: Faldage]
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,554 jenny jenny![]()
veteran![]()
veteran
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,554
Lower Aberdeen, Mississippi
You quibble a problem long ago solved.
And when I say "you" I mean "you all".
#214708 - 04/14/14 05:45 AM Re: Her/him, his/hers/ s/he or 'their(s)'? [Re: jenny jenny]
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 959 Tromboniator![]()
old hand![]()
old hand
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 959
Alaska What bothers me when someone uses the singular they is that they uses the plural verb form. If they wants to keep the language as clear and logical as it is now, they has to be consistent in their singular-plural inflections – you get what I'm saying? And one chao in the language could lead to chaos everywhere!
#214709 - 04/14/14 09:57 AM Re: Her/him, his/hers/ s/he or 'their(s)'? [Re: Mercur10]
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 Faldage![]()
Carpal Tunnel![]()
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 While the "you-all" strategy certainly works if it is applied universally (which it doesn't; other strategies, such as "you guys" or "yinz" are used in other areas of the country, and "you-all" has been spotted in the wild being used as a singular) it has not been accepted in Standard English.
A similar strategy to Tromboniator's 3rd person singular verb with singular "they" was used in the early days of singular "you". It did not last. The verb form has followed the pronoun and not the person and number of the pronoun.
#214716 - 04/14/14 03:45 PM Re: Her/him, his/hers/ s/he or 'their(s)'? [Re: Faldage]
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,120 LukeJavan8![]()
Carpal Tunnel![]()
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,120
Land of the Flat Water bring back thou, thee, thine and the tribe
----please, draw me a sheep----
#214718 - 04/15/14 01:07 AM Re: Her/him, his/hers/ s/he or 'their(s)'? [Re: Faldage]
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,554 jenny jenny![]()
veteran![]()
veteran
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,554
Lower Aberdeen, Mississippi Originally Posted By: FaldageWhile the "you-all" strategy certainly works if it is applied universally (which it doesn't; other strategies, such as "you guys" or "yinz" are used in other areas of the country, and "you-all" has been spotted in the wild being used as a singular) has not been accepted in Standard English.
Really now, Faldage? If you have spotted "you all" used as a singular (as you say) "in the wild" then apparently the boys were funning with poor Mister Faldage. And -as you well know- Standard English is not standard universally, now is it?
#214722 - 04/15/14 10:12 AM Re: Her/him, his/hers/ s/he or 'their(s)'? [Re: jenny jenny]
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 Faldage![]()
Carpal Tunnel![]()
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 Originally Posted By: jenny jenny
Really now, Faldage? If you have spotted "you all" used as a singular (as you say) "in the wild" then apparently the boys were funning with poor Mister Faldage. And -as you well know- Standard English is not standard universally, now is it?![]()
Or either that or my sources are more widely spread than are yours, one. And, while there may be any number of Standard Englishes few, if any, recognize "you-all" or "y'all" as card-carrying members of their league.
#214724 - 04/15/14 01:15 PM read all aqbout it [Re: Faldage]
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,879 wofahulicodoc![]()
Carpal Tunnel![]()
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,879
Worcester, MA
My spies tell me there are places where "Y'all" is standard second person singular; if you mean plural, it's "Y'all all".
#214727 - 04/15/14 03:20 PM Re: read all aqbout it [Re: wofahulicodoc]
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,554 jenny jenny![]()
veteran![]()
veteran
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,554
Lower Aberdeen, Mississippi
Now listen up, boyz, you don't need no interjecting apostrophe to indicate any missing letters when using the plural term "yall" so don't clutter up your scripts with useless marks. If the need arises to futher pluralize this plural use the term "all yall".
Sometimes I think the problem with american yankees is that you all think that all of your thoughts are worthy just because you all think that you are.
Page 1 of 2 1 2
Moderated by Jackie
Forum Statistics Forums16Topics13,880Posts224,653Members9,045 Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members DavidOrigami, RichEngle, Stosh2010, CarolWilliamson, Farscape07
9045 Registered Users
Who's Online Now 0 registered members (), 92 guests, and 3 spiders. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days) A C Bowden 28LukeJavan8 11
Top Posters(All Time) wwh 13,858Faldage 13,803Jackie 11,613tsuwm 10,538LukeJavan8 9,120wofahulicodoc 7,879Buffalo Shrdlu 7,210AnnaStrophic 6,511Wordwind 6,296of troy 5,400
Forum Rules · Mark All Read Contact Us · Wordsmith.org · Top