I'm all for the singular they, since it's not a neologism. A _lot_ of time is needed for neologisms to be accepted. But, as I was reminded by a drunken woman on the bus the other morning, Ms has become firmly ensconced in the common parlance, 40 years after being widely disseminated. The modern coinage was in 1901, as Wikipedia tells me. Shakespeare used "it" for infants (see the Nurse in R&J babbling on about Juliet), but it has taken on an unfortunate pejorative cast over time.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2010-12-04 05:02 pm (UTC)Shakespeare used "it" for infants (see the Nurse in R&J babbling on about Juliet), but it has taken on an unfortunate pejorative cast over time.