what about HIR for a mixture of him and her
S/HE for a mixture she and he.
there, ive given you the basic idea...now you run with it.
2006-09-15 23:37:30 · 12 answers · asked by catweazle 5 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Not one that scholars can agree upon, anyway. This has been a pet peeve of mine forever. I am an teacher, with a major in English, studied linguistics, I have been a print journalist and book editor. Your suggestions won't work all the time - I do, at times, use s/he, but it gets awkward. I like the use in French of "on" - as the gender neutral word, but that can't work in English. The Nobel Prize to anyone in this wise world who can actually put us out of our misery!
2006-09-16 01:33:52 · answer #1 · answered by Lydia 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No need to invent something new. If you don't like the generic masculine ("he") and think "one" is too stilted, you can do what many fine authors over the centuries have done.
Since the 1300s (Middle English) many authors have used a generic "their" to solve this problem. This is just about the same age as the generic use of the masculine.
Many grammarians fuss at this as inaccurate and a recent corruption, but the dates show that it is not a new thing, and numerous examples from the finest authors through the past 6+ centuries prove it is hardly ignorant.
For the history, a list of such authors and many examples (esp. from Jane Austen, about whom the page was written), as well as material from the Oxford English Dictionary, see the sections of the article "Jane Austen and other famous authors violate what everyone learned in their English class" beginning with:
http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html#X1a
2006-09-16 02:14:25 · answer #2 · answered by bruhaha 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The "pc" gender neutral term is ze but is not in widespread use (duh!) outside of radical theory circles as it's widely accepted that current words in use or careful phraseology is more easily assumed to apply to everyone.
If I'm trying to make a point, I have used s/he as a way of highlighting the bias but I'd have to have a particular bee in my bonnet to keep highlighting the term.
2006-09-15 23:56:18 · answer #3 · answered by emread2002 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I use s/he - or their, they. However, if I am writing anything long, I state at the start that 'he' (or 'she'!) covers both sexes. Mind you, I used to refer to both my bumps when pregnant as 's.h.i.t' - a mixture of she, he and it (because we did not know the sex of the baby!)
It is one of the hardest things to do!
2006-09-16 00:08:18 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The traditional use is "they".
Example : You have a friend and they want to answer your question.
2006-09-15 23:54:59 · answer #5 · answered by enirgo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The word "one" is gender-encompassing - like "spouse", "sibling" and "cousin".
How about "bog" for a boy or girl?
2006-09-16 00:28:37 · answer #6 · answered by Malcolm 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
heshe
hisher
shehe
2006-09-16 03:47:29 · answer #7 · answered by Sunseaandair 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The word is 'their'
2006-09-15 23:46:32 · answer #8 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
what about them/their whenever possible as that is asexual...
2006-09-15 23:40:11 · answer #9 · answered by fearsome_gibbon 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yer or yous.
2006-09-16 00:02:52 · answer #10 · answered by purest s 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋