Friday, July 20, 2007

Merriam-Webster on "They" as Genderless Pronoun

As one of you pointed out (see Anonymous comment to my post "A Pronoun Must Match Its Antecedent"), we do sometimes use "they" to refer to an organization.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition, includes the following in a note at the entry for "they":

"usage They, their, them, theselves: English lacks a common-gender third person singular pronoun that can be used to refer to indefinite pronouns (as everyone, anyone, someone). Writers and speakers have supplied this lack by using the plural pronoun" [There follow several examples from Shakespeare, Auden, Thackeray, and G. B. Shaw].


"The use of they, their, them, and themselves as pronouns of indefinite gender and indefinite number is well established in speech and writing, even in literary and formal contexts. This gives you the option of using the plural pronouns where you think they sound best, and of using the singular pronouns (as he, she, he or she, and their inflected forms) where you think they sound best."

Shall I write, "The client called; they want you to call back"? Well, only if I wish to conceal the gender and identity of the caller. Otherwise, I would write, "The client called; it was Sheila Marston, and she wants you to call back."

No comments: