Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!apple!usc!ucla-cs!uci-ics!pase@ogccse.ogc.edu
From: pase@ogccse.ogc.edu (Douglas M. Pase)
Newsgroups: soc.feminism
Subject: Re: The unfortunate `generic masculine'
Keywords: note
Message-ID: <3268@ogccse.ogc.edu>
Date: 23 Jun 89 20:57:08 GMT
References: <14647@duke.cs.duke.edu> <18083@paris.ics.uci.edu>
Sender: news@paris.ics.uci.edu
Reply-To: pase@ogccse.UUCP (Douglas M. Pase)
Organization: Oregon Graduate Center, Beaverton, OR
Lines: 18
Approved: tittle@ics.uci.edu

In article <18083@paris.ics.uci.edu> lee@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.EDU writes:
-I don't think it's a very good idea to refer to `they' ever as a
-singular pronoun, since when it is subject, its verb would never display
-singular agreement.

It isn't necessary, a generic third person singular pronoun already
exists.  It is `one', as in "one knows not to cross the street before
the light turns green."

[This article must have bounced off of some node -- I've got three
copies so far!  It also took a long time to get here, hence the delay
in posting.  --Cindy]

-- 
Douglas M. Pase				Department of Computer Science
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