Re: use of he/she/they

[Tim Covil <covil_t -at- WIZTEC-USA -dot- COM>]

Ron wrote:
        Only a mediocre person is always at his best.
        Re-worded:
        Only a mediocre person is always at their best.

I reply:
        What about "Only a mediocre person is always in top
        form?

>----------
>From:  Ron Jenkins[SMTP:rjenkins -at- MYNA -dot- COM]
>Sent:  Wednesday, August 13, 1997 6:08 AM
>To:    TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>Subject:       Re: use of he/she/they
>
>A collection of useful methods for eliminating the generic "he"
>can be found in _The Non-Sexist Word Finder_:
>
>-the pronoun "he," when used generically, can be avoided, replaced,
>     or defused in several ways:
>
>1.   Everyone is a genius at least once a year; a real genius has
>     his ideas closer together.  (G.C. Lichtenberg)
>
>     -rewrite the sentence in the plural
>
>     Everyone is a genius at least once a year; real geniuses have
>     their ideas closer together.  (G.C. Lichtenberg)
>
>2.   From each according to his abilities, to each according to his
>     needs.  (Karl Marx)
>
>     -rewrite the sentence using we/us/our
>
>     From each of us according to our abilities, to each of us
>     according to our needs.  (Karl Marx)
>
>3.   No man knows his true character until he has run out of gas,
>     purchased something on the instalment plan, and raised an
>     adolescent.  (Mercelene Cox)
>
>     -rewrite the sentence in the second person
>
>     You don't know your true character until you have run out of gas,
>     purchased something on the instalment plan, and raised an
>     adolescent.  (Mercelene Cox)
>
>4.   Pessimist: One who, when he has the choice of two evils,
>     chooses both.  (Oscar Wilde)
>
>     -recast in the passive voice
>
>     Pessimist: One who, when given the choice of two evils,
>     chooses both.  (Oscar Wilde)
>
>5.   Repartee: What a person thinks of after he becomes a departee.
>     (Dan Bennett)
>
>     -omit the pronoun entirely
>
>     Repartee: What a person thinks of after becoming a departee. (Dan
>     Bennett)
>
>6.   The American arrives in Paris with a few French phrases he has
>     culled from a conversational guide or picked up from a friend who
>     owns a beret.  (Fred Allen)
>
>     The American arrives in Paris with a few French phrases culled
>     from a conversational guide or picked up from a friend who owns a
>     beret.  (Fred Allen)
>
>7.   Can't a critic give his opinion of an omelette without being
>     asked to lay an egg?  (Clayton Rawson)
>
>     -replace the masculine pronoun with an article
>
>     Can't a critic give an opinion of an omelette without being
>     asked to lay an egg?  (Clayton Rawson)
>
>8.   He who can take advice is sometimes superior to him who can
>     give it.  (Karl von Knebel)
>
>     -replace the pronoun with such words as someone, anyone, one,
>          the one, no one, etc.
>
>     Someone who can take advice is sometimes superior to one who can
>     give it.  (Karl von Knebel)
>
>9.   Everyone can master a grief but he that has it.  (Shakespeare)
>
>     Everyone can master a grief but the one who has it.
>     (Shakespeare)
>
>     [We all have the strength to endure the misfortunes of others.
>     (La Rochefoucauld)]
>
>10.  Education is helping the child realize his potentialities.
>     (Erich Fromm)
>
>     -use he and she or his and her, but only if there are not a
>          great many of them
>     -s/he is not recommended except in the most informal writing
>
>     Education is helping the child realize his or her
>     potentialities. (Erich Fromm)
>
>11.  He is forced to be literate about the illiterate, witty about
>     the witless, and coherent about the incoherent.  (John Crosby)
>
>     -replace the pronoun with a noun (or a synonym for a noun used
>          earlier)
>
>     The politician is forced to be literate about the illiterate,
>     witty about the witless, and coherent about the incoherent. (John
>     Crosby)
>
>12.  To find a friend one must close one eye--to keep him, two.
>     (Norman Douglas)
>
>     To find a friend one must close one eye--to keep a friend,
>     two.  (Norman Douglas)
>
>13.  When you see a snake, never mind where he came from.  (W.G.
>     Benham)
>
>     -when he refers to an animal whose sex is unknown or
>          irrelevant, replace he with it
>
>     When you see a snake, never mind where it came from.  (W.G.
>     Benham)
>
>14.  When you have got an elephant by the hind legs and he is
>     trying to run away, it is best to let him run.  (Abraham
>     Lincoln)
>
>     When you have got an elephant by the hind legs and it is
>     trying to run away, it is best to let it run.  (Abraham
>     Lincoln)
>
>15.  Only a mediocre person is always at his best.  (Somerset
>     Maugham)
>
>     -the singular they has strong supporters; preferable to avoid
>          in the most formal prose
>
>     Only a mediocre person is always at their best.  (Somerset
>     Maugham)
>
>     -may also use masculine and feminine pronouns in alternating
>          sentences, paragraphs, examples, chapters, although this can
>          be annoying
>
>     -may use specific genderless nouns (the average person,
>          workers, etc.) or substitute job titles or other
>          descriptions for the pronoun
>============================================================
>Ron Jenkins, Technical Communications
>SilCom Technology
>5620 Timberlea Blvd., Mississauga, Ontario, CANADA L4W 4M6
>Web: http://www.silcomtech.com
>Voice: (905) 238-8822 Fax: (905) 238-1887
>E-mail (work): silmark -at- silcomtech -dot- com
>E-mail (personal): rjenkins -at- myna -dot- com
>============================================================
>
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