Posted on 08/11/2024 7:58:52 PM PDT by Paul R.
My parents had their honeymoon in Cairns....long long ago.
They might have been used because the sex of the pilot was unknown. I think that usage goes back aways.
For some reason, I read this with a British accent. It’s bad enough to hear from the Grammar Police but do we really need the Grammar History Police as well? I may or may not be interested to know for how many decades has that knowledge been stuck in your brain just itching for the opportunity to ooze from your head to your fingers?
That’s my point (and in my sphere we substitute ‘it’ every time we see/hear a ‘pronoun marker’).
As little as 10 years ago, the article would have used ‘he’ or ‘the pilot’ given the unknown.
It’s stupid semantics in this case, but it’s ‘wokeness’ which guides journalism today, driven by policies such as AP’s.
It has little to do with ‘singular’.
THAT is good writing.
I know it’s early but any post that includes Viking incursions, the Wycliff Bible, the Canterbury Tales, and Jane Austen is my choice for best post of the day.
Maybe the pilot was trans and they just wanted to be, you know, inclusive.
Just because the egghead twinks have suddenly discovered a use for the “singular they” that they have been trying to stamp out for the last 250 years does not mean we have to pretend that they are finally correct.
They have always been wrong, they were wrong when they tried to get rid of it, they are wrong now, trying to claim it for wokeness and they will always be wrong. History, common usage and the peasant mob are on our side.
Well, from the 70’s when I was in Jr High and High School, obviously, so 50ish years. LOL
I may have argued the point a time or two in college. I always won.
Thank you!
LOL.
Well put.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.