Is they/them not a generic way to refer to men AND women?

[Anonymous]

I'm so confused when reading a book and they say

"A good student will study hard. SHE will get up every morning and follow a strict schedule."

Why can't you just say "They"?

They is a sexless, genderless word. The "th" indicates it refers to a singular entity. Not just a group. Well, "a" group is a singular entity too.

E. g. "thou, they, thee" = singular. "Ye, you" = plural. And why is "thou" pronounced "thow" when you isn't pronounced "yow"? Just questions I have. Nobody thinks about what they're doing. Clearly "thou" is supposed to be pronounced "thoo". Like the German and Danish cognate, "du".

It is and it should be used

It isn't. you're crazy.

Updates

5 mo

And "cometh" or "doeth" should be pronounced "cumth" and "duth". Oh well. Continue on being thoughtless and careless.

Updates

5 mo

Imagine if English died as a language and in just a few hundred years, people pronounced "comes" as "come-ess".

[goaded]

I read a book in the 1980's that used they as a singular pronoun (What Color is your Parachute.) It's a reasonable thing to ask for when complaining about people using "he" as the generic pronoun, not so much when you're complaining about "she" in a text suddenly offending you. The fact that "he" wouldn't have had the same effect on you is proof that things need to change.

[Asker]

Man is the complete form of human. So no it doesn't make sense to use "she" instead of he.

[goaded]

You're 50 years out of date, mate. Like it or not, using "man" or "he" does implicitly exclude half the population. I bet you'd have no problem seeing "she" in the contect of nursing or cleaning. "It cannot be necessary to tell a nurse that she should be clean, or that she should keep her patient clean..." Florence Nightingale. https://nursekey.com/cleanliness/

The singular "they" isn't even a new thing (assuming you think 50 years is recent), Shakespere used it. Why don't you want to be inclusive for everyone?

[Asker]

I do want to be inclusive of everyone. However it's more logical to use "he/man" to refer to mankind than "she/woman/womankind" because men are at the peak of humanity.

[goaded]

Now you're just trolling.

[Asker]

I'm not trolling. I'm being 100% honest. Man to man. Men build and maintain the world. Men do all the real science and all the real engineering. Men make all the real art and all the real progress. A species with woman at the top would regress us to the stone age. I believe in equality. If not that, then patriarchy is the second best option.

[Gent207-2]

I think I lost some brain cells reading this post.

I refuse to placate the mentally ill by changing the English language. You are a Sir or a Madam, Ms/Mrs or Mr - end of story.

[Asker]

Did you know mister is a corruption of master, missus a corruption of master's (the master's possession), and "Miss" implied she was missing a husband. Pretty misogynistic. Some things have to be changed.

[Gent207-2]

@myownman2
Did you also know no one gives a fuck?

[Asker]

Of course I know. That's why you're destined to be my slave

[Gent207-2]

@myownman2
Sic Simper Tyranis

[Asker]

That's cute but I treat everyone well except my enemies. I'm a gentleman.

[Gent207-2]

@myownman2
So no slave story with that self-appoinyed title?
Noice

[Asker]

The word slave has been corrupted. It's not necessarily a bad thing to be, if that's who you are destined to be. And even in ancient times, people like Aristotle recognized the slave as an equal, to be treated as a friend. And aristotle merely pointed out what he observed, he wasn't really a theorist. The athenians and their slaves were indistinguishable. Slaves still exist by the way. You're one. We have just gotten better at being delusional.

[bededazzle]

we used to be taught that we can't say this. but English is made by speakers, not grammarians, and we do this all the time.

[RedInnocent68]

It does get a bit confused and feels bit forced sometimes as a personal pronoun. I’m just a dinosaur that way, I guess.