Re: [PATCH 1/4] Documentation: use singular they when appropriate
From: Junio C Hamano <hidden>
Date: 2021-06-11 00:16:16
Derrick Stolee [off-list ref] writes:
Singular "they" works the same as singular "you". For example: ...means that _you are_ completely satisfied... Singular "you" had a similar backlash in the 1660s as singular "they" is having in this thread, but singular "you" has lasted (and we use "thou" only to signify someone using old-timey language). There is more of this in [1] and [2] [1] https://public.oed.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-singular-they/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%E2%80%93V_distinction#English
Thanks for references. [1] was an amusing and illuminating read.
... Anyone who said thou and thee was seen as a fool and an
idiot, or a Quaker, or at least hopelessly out of date.
Singular you has become normal and unremarkable. Also
unremarkable are the royal we and, in countries without a
monarchy, the editorial we: first-person plurals used regularly
as singulars and nobody calling anyone an idiot and a fool. And
singular they is well on its way to being normal and
unremarkable as well.