On Wednesday, Dec 11, 2002, at 04:58 Australia/Sydney, Manuel Companys wrote:
Le mardi, 10 d�c 2002, � 17:46 Europe/Paris, Rod McCall a �crit :
As the word "whisky" has popped up on this list a bit recently we've decided to give away a bottle of single malt to one of our users. Basically all you have to do is post a *relevant* message to this list between now and Christmas day. We will then pick a person at random and send them a bottle of single malt whisky!
Gee! Sounds wonderful!
But how many plural persons are going to get that nectar?
Manuel
A peculiarity of English; Rod's use of "person" and "them" was grammatically correct in the above sentence. It is also quite appropriate as it is gender-free. English lacks a singular gender-free (rather than neuter) term and uses a plural form to deal with it. Another example is "To send the winner their whisky, we will need their address."
Not offered as a relevant posting. I just happen to know my English better than my Revolution.
cheers
David
Manuel
