Today, a variety of links on linguistic themes:
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The transcript of a radio programme on the ABC, about using “they” and “their” in singular senses. Some might imagine that this is a modern invention, something awful foisted on right-thinking types by the terrible demands of political correctness. But no. If it was good enough for Jane Austen, William Thackeray, and W. H. Auden, then it’s certainly good enough for the rest of us.
Not that it’s always correct to use “they” in the singular sense:
...suppose you know someone called Chris was around earlier, and you have no idea whether it was a Christine or a Christopher, but Chris did leave a signed note saying,
“I’ll be back.”
You would never say, “Chris says they’ll be back.”
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More people have analyzed it than I have.
It’s easy to see what’s meant here, but if you think about this sentence for long enough, you’ll eventually realise it’s bogus. See this Language Log entry for more analysis. -
Finally, from the same ’log, a rather depressing political comment:
No French please, people are watching
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