Another one woke up from woke
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That's the way we learned it in school
Yes, I remember being taught that if the gender was unknown, in speaking or writing, that it should default to male pronouns.
Never until a few years ago have I seen the bizarre anti-grammar trend of replacing singular pronouns with plural versions.
using 'they' for an unknown gender is way more clear than 'he' imo. that's a natural evolution of grammar. screaming sexism when the older convention is used is where it becomes political.
More clear? It's confusing as hell when someone states a group of people (by using they) while my mind was thinking we were discussing a single person. It's been a few years now and it still throws me off when people (mainly young, school aged people) mix up the singular and plural.
its not a mixup, its definitely a new standard. not a woke thing. the plural is applied because it refers to the multitude of possibilities. if the hypothetical could only be a male, then 'he' is used. 'they' allows for both possibilities, without implying a gender. Its much more conversational, which is why the singular usage of 'they' has been around for literally hundreds and hundreds of years.
Someone mentioned demons in the Bible referring to themselves as they/them. That stuck with me. I would like to know which version and passage.