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> First off, it's emphatically not grammatically incorrect, as even a basic
> dictionary will show. For example, the second definition of "their" in
> Webster's New Collegiate is as follows: "his or her: his her its-- used with
> an indefinite third person singular antecedent". The fact that many editors
> and most writers don't know this always surprises me.
(he wrote a lot of other helpful stuff, too)
Thanks Geoff!
Your take on "their" is interesting - that's the first time I've heard of
any "official" approval of the custom, whereas I've heard a LOT of equally
official condemnation of the practice.
I enjoyed the book "Woe is I," which proposes that some old-fashioned
grammatical rules should be retired. I'm in favor of that, bigtime.
However, even that author (Patricia O'Connor) disapproves of "their" as a
singular possessive pronoun.
I personally don't mind it; it's conversationally accurate, and it solves
a lot of problems. But I still don't feel comfortable using it in business
writing.
Your other ideas are very helpful, as are your instructions for developing
these new habits. You're a good teacher; it's important to point out to
students that when they're first learning something, it may not feel
natural. That extra bit of insight can help prevent them from immediately
dismissing the information they're trying to absorb.
Thanks again!
-Keith Cronin, who thinks that nobody should worry his or her pretty
little head (or is it _their_ head, or maybe their _heads_?) about
nitpicky grammatical stuff...
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