Just need to vent...

Or 'they' for 'he' or 'she'?

 

Could depend on what they mean to say ... "I shall drown! No one will save me!" and "I will drown! No one shall save me!" send different messages to the onlookers ....

 

This one threw me off once while I was at a school. A sign said something about "your child" and then went on to talk about "they" and "their." Did the parent suddenly have another child?

However, "you" is also plural. "Thou" and "thee" are singular while "ye" and "you" are plural, hence the plural verbs (I was, thou wast, he was, we were, ye or you were, and they were). "You" changed to the formal singular second person pronoun whereas "thou" was informal and painted a close and familiar relationship. (Hence why Juliet would use "you" with Romeo in the begining as a way of distancing herself from him but later switched to a much more friendly "thou").

And English isn't the only language to have done something like this. French and Spanish also took on the plural form of "you" for a formal you. I immagine that people saw those of different social statuses as a colective group, kind of like when someone from southern USA asks a cashier where "y'all" have a certain product.

In Spanish it's pretty complicated. "Vos" in Latin (pronounced kind of like "woes" in English) was "you" plural. But when in Spanish the word "vos" changed to "vosotros" they kept using "vos" for singular formal. Over time the expression "vuestra merced" ("vuestra" was the possessive form of vos and vosotros) was used so much that it was contracted into "usted." At that point "vos" became informal.

Why do people have to get me started on languages.

 

i was reading an article about a bently college professor who disappeared a while back, and they kept using they and their. being an old geezer, i couldn't understand why.
after some research, i found out that 'they' were (was?) transgender. really had me scratching my head.

 

People should also note that different users on different machines, entering the exact same search phrase, get different results. While not nearly as different as social media and YouTube feeds, one's profile and browsing history are inputs to "the algorithm" to determine what search results are shown, and in what order.

My google profile clearly does not mark me as a Trekkie.

 

You must know your gender list -
(see left /right totally neutral wiki. )

List of gender identities - Wikipedia

so you don't send anybody feeling the need to run to they/their safe room. Otherwise you are called a nazi racist

Sorry, not sorry, don't miss at all - the Biden take a knee Administration. But if some fluffy blouse wearing dude wants me to call him Debbie, okay I can show that much respect.

 

Something to think about, is the fact most people out there, simply aren't structural engineers, and will never use your version of TOS in mixed company... because why would they, unless a large enough number were also engineers.

Therefore, you must diversify your searches on that paradigm-shattering-in-Y2K-website Google (vs. interrogate everyone around you, often younger, like an old person pre-Google ) to include more mainstream topics (and tbtf, entertainment-biased ones, because that's what defines 'mainstream'). Thankfully, the posts previous to mine gave a clue to what terms to include.

Also: when I write, I don't assume my audience are idiots or bereft of resource -- esp here, that's been proven countless times not to be true.

Thus if you don't understand a term, look it up, like I do. You don't even have to leave your computer (I haven't visited a library in 15 yrs -- to my detriment of course... but what used to demand it, hasn't existed in decades now)... so no idea what pleading with whose who use esoteric terms to you, to consider your audience, seeks to accomplish. Not writing a manual or white paper, where such things would matter

QED

 

We were taught in grade school to avoid undefined abbreviations that aren't universally understood by our specific audience. Top of Steel (TOS) becomes clear and does not require trolling when questions arise.

If I decided to point out Terms of Service in the same note, I would spell it out. If it was "Terms of Service as employed by NASA", there would be no need to define NASA as that acronym is understood by the audience.

 

I was taught in school too spell it out one time then immediately in parentheses - show the abbreviated initials, then you are good to go for the next usages

 

Worked as a news reporter when I was young. News style was to use the full title/name/label the first time it appeared in your story.

Such as United States Department of Agriculture...USDA

Next reference in story, USDA is fine. Never, ever, use parentheses. If you think readers won't get it, spell it out throughout.

Any doubt, you went to the Associated Press Style Book and Libel Manual, where you learned a few names, such as FBI, can be abbrevated on first reference.

Dropping the parentheses lessened clutter. And using parentheses would get your story an automatic Fail in journalism class, or tossed back to you with extreme cussing on a news desk.

 

hmmmmmmm

FAQ topics: Abbreviations

Seeing a lot of different ways now days - to be 'right' when it comes to such things as abbreviations. One of the most disturbing ones personally is when people say 'irregardless' instead of regardless. I watched a student briefing an issue & using that term, the professor hammered the speaker saying "there is no such word as irregardless!!!"
Yet now - decades later some dictionaries actually acknowledge the incorrectness simply being OK - because so many people say it. LOL
Can't wait 'till dictionaries include such things as "nungado" - as acceptable in lieu of," do you know what I am going to do" .... after all, so many people are too lazy to enunciate
Word economy! You save 7 syllables!

.

 

Regarding abbreviations; it's picky and stupid.

The news style is obviously tuned for easy, quick reading on the go; at least for the few newspapers left. It's perfect.

The academics such as Modern Language Association, Chicago Style, are picky, pedantic and favored by literary types. You can probably tell I had a few language instructors who did not mesh with my thoughts. While I am straight and to the point, they tended to favor five words when one would do nicely.

WHO SAYS ONE WORD IS NOT A PARAGRAPH. They do. I had a prof give me a "D." She claimed one word could nor a paragraph make.

"Help."

There, a paragraph.

Unfortunately, my writing often has to adhere to:
https://www.councilscienceeditors.org/cse-manual

Like it or not. Like writing is a science.

Opps, lots in this post would earn demerits. Good thing I am out of university.

So, each to their own -- as long as it is spelled rite! Maybe that's why Rite-Aid has had it's troubles?
kris