He or She? How about They?
Yes, it’s time for another linguistics posting. I think this article not only explains the problem and its origins fairly well, but gives a reasonable solution. In an era of politically correct speech where we can’t say, for example, “To boldly go where no man has gone before,” we also have to question the use of the general pronoun, “he.”
I went to a school that has a “Womyn’s Concerns House.” I heard about this kind of crap too much.
Why not replace “he or she” or “s/he” or the general “he” with a singular form of “they”?
P.S. The true problem with Star Trek’s opening phrase there is that it splits the infinitive, but nobody ever seems to question that. They don’t teach grammar in school anymore, anyway.
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18. June 2003 at 14:42
A good grammar teacher wouldn’t prohibit splitting the infinitive in the first place. The prohibition only came about because, in Latin, infinitives are never split – because they’re one word. There is no other reason not to. It’s also perfectly cromulent to begin a sentence with a conjunction. ;)
18. June 2003 at 15:06
I’m not really one for caring about grammar, but that article was great!!! I think the author made their point perfectly.
18. June 2003 at 21:50
I could be wrong, but didn’t they change that in TNG to be “where no ONE has gone before”?
19. June 2003 at 19:09
I could be mistaken, but I believe that when Trek called upon James Cromwell to recite that line as Zefram Cochrane (either in First Contact or the Enterprise pilot), Cromwell refused to split the infinitive.
So instead, Cromwell had Cochrane start the quote with “To go boldly.”
Loren
20. June 2003 at 20:45
Zero –>
Well put. ;-) Subtle, too.
John –>
You’re going to make me go look up “cromulent,” aren’t you? That’s why I’m here — to learn something new every day.
Don –>
Yes, they did change it to “no one” for TNG. I remember some of the early controversy about that, and I wasn’t even a Trek fan yet.
Loren –>
Yes, I believe you’re correct, also. Haven’t watched that movie in a while, though…
-Augie
23. June 2003 at 13:25
Oh Lord, don’t look it up – it’s a Simpsons reference, and a made up word.