On 17/05/12 05:25 PM, Lisi wrote:
On Thursday 17 May 2012 20:52:36 Kelly Clowers wrote:
Unlike those (and similar invented things), "they" doesn't sound
horrible and ridiculously artificial.
To many of us, it does. It grates badly. I have no problem at all with
(s)he, I also contend that "it's she" is perfectly acceptable and can be
validly parsed grammatically.
The "it's" is in common usage, for example as in "it's a lovely day". "It's
raining", or e.g. when announcing a birth "it's a girl".
But I have to admit that the 2nd person plural has finally totally
vanquished - the last living use of the second person singular that I know of
had died out by the end of the 20th century. And no doubt the third person
singular will eventually go the same way. Sad.
Lisi
I beg to differ. It refers to an object. He and She refer to people.
Refer to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/it. It's usage, not
syntax.
In this case, "it's a she" is incorrect because the gender is known and
is crucial to the statement. Saying "Lina is a she" would be clearest.
My statement was simply the most humorous.
The "It's a girl" example denotes the transition from an unknown to a
known gender. Prior to ultrasound, the gender was not known until birth
- hence the announcement. Once you know the gender, it is not
appropriate to refer to someone as an "it".
The question of whether a fetus can be a he or she and the treatment of
people undergoing gender reassignment are not topics I want to pursue in
this forum. :)
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