Re: Digital grain (was Re: PESO My type of photographer)

[Paul Stenquist]

I'm surprised that the Brits are more willing to bend the rules of 
grammar than are the Americans in regard to use of the plural pronoun 
"their" with a singular antecedent. I would guess that this is only 
true of informal communication. I wouldn't be surprised if the London 
Times subscribes to the same policy as the NY Times. In American 
academic writing, addressing the reader as "you" is eschewed. Instead, 
the pronoun "one" is preferred:
Purists always hyphenate correctly. If one is a purist, one always 
hyphenates correctly.

On Dec 8, 2004, at 7:14 PM, Bob W wrote:
Hi,
I thought a purist drank "his" coffee black.  (A purist also uses 
the
proper non-gender specific pronoun in English as well).


Very true. Even the New York Times, that bastion of American
liberalism, uses the third person masculine pronoun when the gender is
non-specific. Anything else is silly and awkward.
Paul
it seems to have become quite acceptable in British English to use
'their' rather than 'his' in this sort of situation. I use both, but I
prefer not to paint myself into such a corner that I have to make the
choice. Usually you can rewrite it, and often improve it, by
addressing the reader as 'you', or by putting the whole thing into the
plural.
Examples:
proper non-gender specific pronoun
Purists always hyphenate correctly. If you're a purist you always
hyphenate correctly.
--
Cheers,
 Bob