In case you\u2019re joining us without having read last week\u2019s column, or in case last week\u2019s column has suffered the fate of last week\u2019s emails and is buried under a pile of incoming data, we\u2019ll review. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m giving a second look at a column from 2011 where I put on my English teacher badge and offered my views on the topic of singular \u201cthey.\u201d That\u2019s the much-debated change in popular usage that allows the pronoun \u201cthey\u201d to stand for one person, in addition to its usual job of standing for two or more people. As in, \u201cEveryone should bring their book to class.\u201d I have never liked the trend and said so forcefully at the time, but my argument has not carried the day. The NIV Bible now uses singular \u201cthey,\u201d and so does Miss Manners, the newspaper columnist who has been an expert on propriety for decades. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shortly before leaving for Spring Break, I read the column in which she grudgingly accepted the reality of language change and told readers to get used to singular \u201cthey.\u201d On the drive home, I was mentally preparing to throw in the towel and adjust how I graded essays. Not because of any newfound affection for singular \u201cthey,\u201d but because I am tired. I have fought against it for 20 years. My red pen is running dry. A few hairs in my moustache have skipped grey and gone straight to white. As William Butler Yeats would put it, \u201cToo long a sacrifice can make stone of the heart.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then the pandemic happened, and I had more time to think. I also read another \u201cMiss Manners\u201d column, where a reader wrote in to complain about an inconsiderate partner. I didn\u2019t save the article, but I remember a sentence that went something like this: \u201cMy partner never puts their stuff away, never cleans their dishes, never lifts their feet from their spot on the sofa when I want to sit down, and never puts the cap back on their toothpaste when they are done brushing their teeth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pandemics have a way of bringing out sarcasm, so for a brief moment I thought of saying to this writer, \u201cThat\u2019s what you get when you mess with polygamy.\u201d Because the sentence sure sounds like we are talking about a crowd of inconsiderate people. Then I rebuked myself and said, \u201cThis person has more important problems than pronouns.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yet, the sentence reminded me why I never liked \u201csingular they.\u201d It is like eating a Pop-Tart. One is fine; 10 will give you indigestion. Few, it seems, ever stop at one. The more the word \u201cthey\u201d appears in a sentence about one single person, the more it sounds like, as I once put it, the writer has forgotten how to count. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, instead of caving completely, I decided to propose a compromise. Yes, I may be sticking my finger in the dam one more time, but as a longtime professor of English, a lover of graceful writing and a weary soul, I have two announcements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One: I will no longer correct the following sentence: \u201cEvery student should bring their book to class.\u201d When the pronoun \u201cthey\u201d is used only once in a sentence, to refer to a person of unspecified gender, I will submit. Granted, I still believe that a football teammate can safely be called \u201che,\u201d and I still recommend that a social club sister be referred to as \u201cshe.\u201d But the sparing use of singular \u201cthey\u201d will no longer be struck from the sentence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two: I will most certainly not put up with bad writing. At worst, overuse of singular \u201cthey\u201d is the result of pure sloppiness. But even when the writer purposefully chooses inclusion over elegance, I will insist that we can have both. There is no need to write \u201cEach student should bring their book when it is their time to read out loud.\u201d Plural nouns were invented for such a time as this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also will not encourage \u201cone\u201d as a substitute. If you write, \u201cOne must never forget one\u2019s grammar when using one\u2019s favorite pronoun,\u201d you sound like an English butler. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember the sentence above about the inconsiderate partner? Read it again, and you\u2019ll see why it needs to be taken out and shot. If you wish to save it, though, I suggest the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy partner never puts anything away, never cleans the dishes, never leaves me room on the sofa, and never once has capped the toothpaste.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One partner. One person with bad habits. One elegant sentence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now go, they, and do likewise. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In case you\u2019re joining us without having read last week\u2019s column, or in case last week\u2019s column has suffered the fate of last week\u2019s emails and is buried under a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":15116,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-opinions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15295"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15299,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15295\/revisions\/15299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}