5 ms·

s/his/their Unless of course there is something on this service that actually limits all of your users into being one gender :)

aroch 12y ago
The "male" pronoun's use is grammatically correct when the gender of the subject is unknown. Take your SJW puffery to Tumblr.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- brenschluss 12y ago
  Incorrect. Grammar, like all aspects of language, are socially generated. Currently, the shift has been to move towards 'she' or 'they' as a default gender. Saying "'he' is grammatically correct" is like saying "C++ is the proper programming language." It's all about usage.
  - mikeash 12y ago
    And "he" as a gender-neutral pronoun is still quite common usage, thus still correct by your definition of it.
- comrh 12y ago
  You don't have to be a jerk about it.
- cfqycwz 12y ago
  It is true that the use of male pronouns in gender-neutral context has historically been considered correct and is still considered correct by many. It is, however, generally discouraged because it only serves to reinforce the very real and problematic implication of male as the "default" sex.
  - okasaki 12y ago
    Discouraged by whom?
    - hyperpape 12y ago
      It's a fairly common prescription in style guides, though it is still debated: try Googling "style guides gender neutral language" for instance.
- dang 12y ago
  > Take your SJW puffery to Tumblr Personal attacks are not allowed on Hacker News. Please don't address other users like this. (My comment here has nothing to do with pronouns.)
- hyperpape 12y ago
  How is this anything but a non-sequitur? Personal attacks aren't ungrammatical and racial slurs aren't ungrammatical. Yelling "FIRST!" at the top of a comment thread probably isn't ungrammatical either. Like using 'he' for a generic user, each behavior is obnoxious (albeit in different ways and with different scales). Singular they is well established as a grammatical construction (http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/sgtheirl.html http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/sgtheirl.html, for instance), and avoids the issue entirely.
Nickoladze 12y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_and_gender-neutral_pronouns#Generic_he http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_and_gender-neut...
- zacharydanger 12y ago
  1745 called. They want their grammar back. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they
- dethstar 12y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_and_gender-neutral_pronouns#Alternatives_to_generic_he https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_and_gender-neu...
octagonal 12y ago
:%s/his/their/g sorry.
- owenversteeg 12y ago
  There was only one "his" in the title, it didn't need to be a global replace.

aroch 12y ago

The "male" pronoun's use is grammatically correct when the gender of the subject is unknown. Take your SJW puffery to Tumblr.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
brenschluss 12y ago
Incorrect. Grammar, like all aspects of language, are socially generated. Currently, the shift has been to move towards 'she' or 'they' as a default gender. Saying "'he' is grammatically correct" is like saying "C++ is the proper programming language." It's all about usage.
- mikeash 12y ago
  And "he" as a gender-neutral pronoun is still quite common usage, thus still correct by your definition of it.
comrh 12y ago
You don't have to be a jerk about it.
cfqycwz 12y ago
It is true that the use of male pronouns in gender-neutral context has historically been considered correct and is still considered correct by many. It is, however, generally discouraged because it only serves to reinforce the very real and problematic implication of male as the "default" sex.
- okasaki 12y ago
  Discouraged by whom?
  - hyperpape 12y ago
    It's a fairly common prescription in style guides, though it is still debated: try Googling "style guides gender neutral language" for instance.
dang 12y ago
> Take your SJW puffery to Tumblr Personal attacks are not allowed on Hacker News. Please don't address other users like this. (My comment here has nothing to do with pronouns.)
hyperpape 12y ago
How is this anything but a non-sequitur? Personal attacks aren't ungrammatical and racial slurs aren't ungrammatical. Yelling "FIRST!" at the top of a comment thread probably isn't ungrammatical either. Like using 'he' for a generic user, each behavior is obnoxious (albeit in different ways and with different scales). Singular they is well established as a grammatical construction (http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/sgtheirl.html http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/sgtheirl.html, for instance), and avoids the issue entirely.

Nickoladze 12y ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_and_gender-neutral_pronouns#Generic_he http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_and_gender-neut...

zacharydanger 12y ago
1745 called. They want their grammar back. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they
dethstar 12y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_and_gender-neutral_pronouns#Alternatives_to_generic_he https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_and_gender-neu...

octagonal 12y ago

:%s/his/their/g sorry.

owenversteeg 12y ago
There was only one "his" in the title, it didn't need to be a global replace.