Talk:Suzanna
Re: They[edit]
Sometimes "they" does refer to one. This edit does sidestep the gender problem more cleanly. Thank you. -- Fenyx4 07:06, 6 December 2017 (MST)
- From Wikipedia:
- The "singular they" had emerged by the 14th century. >> Since so long ago? But English literature was born during that age (Geoffrey Chaucer lived in XIV cen.). I read lots of Shakespeare (XVI cen.), Dickens (XIX cen.), Coleridge (XIX cen.), Byron (XIX cen.), and I never noticed any use of singular they. I will ask Wikipedia to provide evidence.
- It has been the target of criticism since the late 19th century. >> This includes me, indeed! :D :D I apologize for the inconvenience. --Abacos (talk) 00:53, 30 January 2018 (MST)
- Purdue OWL: Pronouns:
- Gender neutral pronouns were not invented in the modern period—they have a vast and long history. The Oxford English Dictionary’s first citation for a gender-neutral, indefinite they is from about 1375 from the romance of William of Palerne. The use of they as an indefinite pronoun which refers to people in general has been used even longer. They appears in 1382 in Wycliffe’s translation of the Bible. Additionally, in Much Ado about Nothing, Shakespeare uses they in the line, “To strange sores, strangely they straine the cure” (see OED Online).
- Somewhere to start. --Terilem (talk) 03:03, 30 January 2018 (MST)
Given this evidence, I accept it. It is strange that I was taught English for 11 years or more, and none of my teachers ever mentioned this use of "they". Ok, I accept it as true English of England. I just have to get used to it, then (Abacos gained Humility +0.1) :D --Abacos (talk) 12:53, 1 February 2018 (MST)
...On a second thought, I would like to find a website from England that says something about the subject. I consider England as the final authority about the English language. And I found them: PRSavvy.co.uk, ICGE.co.uk, and TheWeek.co.uk, among others, and they all agree with you. --Abacos (talk) 13:17, 1 February 2018 (MST)