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To: Jamestown1630
You’re using the generic masculine.

Yes, I am. That is standard English. Such usage was understood to be generic until politically motivated feminists campaigned to convince us that such usage was not generic, implying only men, and was thus sexist.

94 posted on 09/13/2024 4:52:22 PM PDT by Petrosius
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To: Petrosius

Your use is correct in formal or rhetorical writing, but not in a news article. (In fact, in a news article about an actual incident where the sex of the child is unknown, using ‘he’ could be a big and confusing problem, especially in today’s atmosphere.)

I remain in my conviction that the journalist was using the correct, ages-old form in the article; and was not kowtowing to contemporary thought about ‘gender language’.

Good Night!


95 posted on 09/13/2024 7:44:10 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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