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."

Commas and Adjectives: A Long, Loose, Red Shirt

When should you put a comma between two adjectives? In general, the comma is correct if you could use an "and" between the adjectives.

Try out that rule in the following sentences:
He saw a bright chrome car-door handle.
There were fierce local gun battles.
It had been a long, hot, humid day.

Sometimes a noun phrase uses several adjectives, and some take a comma while some do not. For example, take the sentence, "He brought a worn, faded, loose red polo shirt."
We say, "He brought a worn and faded red polo shirt."
Or "He brought a faded and loose red polo shirt."
We could even reverse those two adjectives: He brought a loose and faded red polo shirt.

But we never say, “It was a red and polo shirt” or “...a polo red shirt.”

The Plural of Mouse

Microsoft publishes a Manual of Style for Technical Publications (that is its title). In its latest (third) edition, on page 17, the manual tells us that the plural of mouse is not mice, but mouse devices.

(We are here referring not to the small mammal, but to the movable control module on a computer.)

So imagine my surprise when I was browsing Microsoft's sales site, at
microsoft.com/mac/otherproducts/otherproducts.aspx?pid=otherproducts,
and found the following:

"Learn more about Mac-compatible mice."

Ah well, it is easy to promulgate a rule; it's hard to enforce it always.

Americans Are Not the Only People

Now let me be clear: I support the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. They do great work.

But when I went to their home page today, I saw the following sentence:
"In April 2002, 4.2 million people were working part-time who wanted full-time work."

That sentence reminded me again that we Americans are still (still!) ethnocentric. The sentence said nothing about which people were working part-time. Does this statistic (4.2 million) refer to Americans? If so, let's say so.

I try (I sometimes fail) to remember that the word "people" is not synonymous with the word "Americans." If I cite a statistic, I try to mention the population from which it is drawn.

In fact, my friend Angie from South America reminds me that even "Americans" is often a misnomer. The Americas include Central and South America, Mexico, and Canada. If I want to be precise (and globally aware) I should use "U. S. residents" when in fact I mean only that group.

The words I use reflect (help shape?) my consciousness; and it's past time for my consciousness to encompass the world.