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The alternative is "If anyone needs a snack, he or she is welcome to help himself or herself to whatever suits his or her taste when he or she wants to satisfy his or her need to refresh himself or herself."
Why the need to say "he or she" or " his or her" at all? The use of "his" covers both. The "his or her" constuction is unnecessary because the context of the subject of the sentence lets you know the subject could be male or female.
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What if everyone says they are?
Then you treat them as if they are!
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Tell everyone at the protest that they will be subject to arrest.
Tell everyone at the protest that anyone there will be subject to arrest.
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A wise man (or woman) is one who knows when to break the rules.
Trying to transform the plural word their into a singular word for which there is not one in English is not breaking a rule. It's attempting to create a new one and for no good reason.
"Ask everyone if they are pregnant" is incorrect because even if a woman is expecting twins, she is still one person.
Last thing I knew men couldn't get pregnant anyway so it's a no brainer to just say "she" in this case.
With the his/her dilemma, that's where I wish someone would invent a new word because
even though we can change the sentence structure to avoid using his/her, it's awkward. You can still use the standard sentence when you use "his", but when you want to use an indefinite pronoun, there isn't one. You're stuck with using "his" and that's what a lot of people have objected to for a long time because it's inaccurate (even though that's what we were always taught in school.)
My dear, I have vague recollections of the Truman Adminstration, and I remember watching Ike's inauguration!
I'm not quite as old as you, Retriever (Ike was President when I was born, and there were 48 stars on the flag), but I think of "Hooked on Phonics" as something "modern".
One of my mother's pet language peeves, and now one of mine also, has to do with the way that people express themselves when talking about influenza.
Why do so many people insist on saying, "THE Flu"?
If we don't say, "The Bronchitis", or, "The Pneumonia", or, "The Herpes", or, "The Lyme Disease", or, "The Athlete's Foot", etc, why does it seems that almost everyone insists on inserting, "the", before the abbreviation, "flu"?
When I was a child, I thought that my mother was silly for correcting me when I said, "The Flu", but now I see the wisdom in my mother's admonition, "It's just flu, dear, not THE flu".
One of my mother's pet language peeves, and now one of mine also, has to do with the way that people express themselves when talking about influenza.
Why do so many people insist on saying, "THE Flu"?
If we don't say, "The Bronchitis", or, "The Pneumonia", or, "The Herpes", or, "The Lyme Disease", or, "The Athlete's Foot", etc, why does it seems that almost everyone insists on inserting, "the", before the abbreviation, "flu"?
When I was a child, I thought that my mother was silly for correcting me when I said, "The Flu", but now I see the wisdom in my mother's admonition, "It's just flu, dear, not THE flu".
I have heard people say, "I've got the headache" or "I've got the backache." But almost everyone says, "I've got the flu."
I have a couple of friends who moved here from Kentucky. They always say, "The bed" as in, "Time to go to the bed" or, "When the phone rang I was in the bed" or "I was sick in the bed."
This sounds strange to me, but they point out that people say, "the refrigerator" so why not say "the bed?"
One of my mother's pet language peeves, and now one of mine also, has to do with the way that people express themselves when talking about influenza.
Why do so many people insist on saying, "THE Flu"?
If we don't say, "The Bronchitis", or, "The Pneumonia", or, "The Herpes", or, "The Lyme Disease", or, "The Athlete's Foot", etc, why does it seems that almost everyone insists on inserting, "the", before the abbreviation, "flu"?
When I was a child, I thought that my mother was silly for correcting me when I said, "The Flu", but now I see the wisdom in my mother's admonition, "It's just flu, dear, not THE flu".
But we do say, "I have a cold" or "I have a yeast infection" or "I have a bladder infection." Some people might indeed say, "I have the bronchitis." I suspect that is more a regional idiom than misuse. It is similar to some areas of the country describing a road as "the 292". Here in Georgia it would just be "292."
When I say it aloud, somehow "I have the flu" sounds better than "I have flu" but "I have influenza" sounds OK. Go figure. Also, when we say we have "the flu" what we mean is we have "the flu virus."
Some people might indeed say, "I have the bronchitis."
Yes, some folks might say that, but that does not make it correct.
After all, I have heard many an elderly person say that his/her, "Arthuritis", is painful, but mass-mispronouncing of, "Arthritis" does not make that mispronunciation correct.
And, by the way...is "Arthuritis" an inflammation of someone's "Arthur"?
Yes, some folks might say that, but that does not make it correct.
After all, I have heard many an elderly person say that his/her, "Arthuritis", is painful, but mass-mispronouncing of, "Arthritis" does not make that mispronunciation correct.
And, by the way...is "Arthuritis" an inflammation of someone's "Arthur"?
It's akin to Wilford Brimley's "diabeetus" which has become an internet meme.
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