[net.nlang] Gender-specific responses to s/h

emjej@uokvax.UUCP (01/16/85)

/***** uokvax:net.nlang / topaz!josh /  4:06 pm  Jan  9, 1985 */
There's a precedent for the plural form of a pronoun taking over the 
singular--the second person, "you".  One says "you are" even when speaking
of (to) a single person.  The original singular form "thou" has largely
disappeared.

--JoSH
/* ---------- */

"You" and corresponding formal pronouns in Romance languages are hangovers
from humoring people who use the royal "we" by using plural constructs to
refer to them. It's not clear whether that should justify adding ambiguity
to English.

						James Jones

(On the other hand, whenever I hear "Everybody should bring his hat," I
picture a mob ripping a particular fedora to shreds, all of them trying
to grab the same hat...)