Comment by gil
8 years ago
> Style tip: When talking about a particular person, don't refer to him or her as "they".
Can you explain why, please?
8 years ago
> Style tip: When talking about a particular person, don't refer to him or her as "they".
Can you explain why, please?
Grammar and style are both ultimately dictated by usage, so if someone insists on plugging in XYZ as a new ultra-PC pronoun I can't really prove that it is incorrect, no matter how ridiculous.
So, that said: The whole point of using "they" is when you don't know the gender of a person and don't want to presume by saying "he" or "she" or muddying up the text by saying "he or she". When you know the gender of a person, using the correct pronoun is better--it's both succinct and corresponds more closely with reality.
It's a touchy subject [I mean, some idiot flagged my comment--come on!] but people tend to over-correct in grammar quite a bit, and over-correcting with "they" happens like this.
Got it, thanks.
Perhaps the parent was trying to conceal the identity of the person in question and gender would be too much of a giveaway.
It's less of a touchy subject than a predictable and boring digression. Users often flag off-topic comments.