MEGGIN@vm.epas.utoronto.ca (David Megginson) (12/09/89)
OK. Let's see if I can end the debate. A few hundred years ago, people
in English started using 'ye/you' (//French vous), which is plural, to
address a single person politely. Now we barely ever use 'thou/thee'
(//French tu/te) except in special religious contexts, and we use the
plural 'you' (we have lost 'ye') for everyone. For my children or
grandchildren, 'they/them' for a single person will be normal, as in
"Every user should check their computer."
That sounds terrible to me, but in 50 years I'll be dead anyway, and
none of the people using it will care. He/she and s/he are just
temporary crutches for people like me who don't like a singular 'they',
but the English language has changed and will change, like it or not.
David Megginson, Centre for Medieval Studies, Toronto