New Fix To The Pronoun Problem: `Hu' Latest Substitute For `He,' And `She'

[Culhwch]

Originally Posted by that old guy

"Hu needs to do hu homework."

'Huh' needs to do 'huh' homework. Really rolls off the tongue, huh? I've never seen a problem with 'they'. Better than some ridiculous thing like hu.

[lin robinson]

They needs to do they homework? You hear that around Harlem type areas.

Seriously I agree. People accomodate to language problems and lexnazis won't have it. There are a lot of examples of this sort thing.
The word "ain't". essentially a generic conjugation. The term "y'all" used in the American South to fill the gap left by the lack of a second person plural in English. "Youse" used in the Northeast US for the same purpose.

[Culhwch]

Originally Posted by lin robinson

"Youse" used in the Northeast US for the same purpose.

And here I was thinking that that was a uniquely Australian term.

'I love youse all!'

[iansales]

Scouse, too, I think.

[HoopyFrood]

And brummy too, I think. (Birmingham accent!)

[Chigun]

Forget being PC. Use whatever works and move on heh. :P If PC people nip at ya, then their a little high strung in my opinion.

[Sapheron]

1:"Hu did it!"

2:"Who?"

1:"Hu!"

2:"Are you ok, you seem to be coughing a lot..."

1:"Oh alright, he did it!"

2:"Sexist! Argh!"

God bless loony academics with nothing meaningful to do with themselves.

[scalem X]

It's grammatically acceptable to use "they" as a singular pronoun in British English - see here.

I clicked the link and started reading: The factual accuracy of this article or section is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.
Sorry I haven't read further, using wikipedia as a source is a big no-no Ian

Anyway as in French, one uses male by default (gender there like 'ils' for a boy and a girl together), one can always rely on the following argumentation: he is shorter than she

[dustinzgirl]

You know, this could really change the entire language of Spanish, since nearly every term is male/female, so they would have to change all of the -o and -a to -u

So, Amigo (male friend) and Amiga (female friend) would have to become Amigu (both) and "la" (female the) and "el" (male the) would have to become lu and ul

[Lith]

Those poor Latin-based languages are in a world of hurt and just don't know it yet.



This whole thing is just a bunch of HU-ey.

[lin robinson]

French might come out of it okay since they already have a neuter and can jiust lop off everything else to match.

Spanish has already suffered a few volleys of PC inanity. The word "macha" was being tossed around Hollywood for a while. (Sigourney Weaver in Alien: macha) Since "macho" simply means "male", the new term is a bit of a feathered kangaroo. Didn't catch on for some reason.

[scalem X]

French might come out of it okay since they already have a neuter and can jiust lop off everything else to match.

How do you mean?
two dudes go to the sea:
Ils vont à la mer
two girls go to the sea:
Elles vont à la mer
a boy and girl go to the se (or a hundred girls and one boy)
Ils vont à la mer

So what would your neutral term for the last sentence be?

Since correct me if I'm wrong, but you can use male and female terms even with this system. If the murderer is clearly male saying: he did it! won't be a problem. The argument is in replacing it when the sex is unknown.

[iansales]

Originally Posted by scalem X

I clicked the link and started reading: The factual accuracy of this article or section is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.
Sorry I haven't read further, using wikipedia as a source is a big no-no Ian

There's a lively discussion on the page, but that doesn't invalidate it. The discussion mostly centres on the differences between singular they and indeterminate they - with citations from the OED, Shakespeare, and many others.

Using wikipedia is like using any other secondary source - handle with care. But as such sources go, it's the most convenient and the most inclusive there has ever been.

[iansales]

Originally Posted by lin robinson

Spanish has already suffered a few volleys of PC inanity. The word "macha" was being tossed around Hollywood for a while. (Sigourney Weaver in Alien: macha) Since "macho" simply means "male", the new term is a bit of a feathered kangaroo. Didn't catch on for some reason.

That'll be like "ladette", then :-)

[chrispenycate]

Originally Posted by iansales

It's grammatically acceptable to use "they" as a singular pronoun in British English - see here.

Besides, when the alternatives are a) tying yourself in knots with "he or she", b) pandering to the PC crowd, or c) stupid made-up words like "hu", then as far as I'm concerned there's no sensible reason not to use the singular they.

:-)

And, when you decide that your "they" is singular, do you associate it with the singular form of the verb (they is) or accept its inherent plurality?
Admittedly, I've been guilty of posting tongue in cheek occasionally (it's easier than getting the keyboard in) but I can actually see nothing wrong with the rule I learnt at my father's knee, that humans (and other species too) are assumed to be male until proof is discovered to the contrary. It wasn't sexist, really, and languages like French don't even notice it, it's just there (there again, with all objects possessing gender, they'd almost have to have a simplification)

But introducing a new term, against the mass of existing literature already existing (as a first stage, imagine the sheer number of government forms that would require modifying ) seems like the occasional "rationalisation of spelling" movements, excessive, and a source of problems far more complicated than those it solves.