Re: [COMMITTERS] pgsql: Use gender-neutral language in documentation

On Tue, Sep 22, 2015 at 11:00 AM, Andrew Dunstan <andrew(at)dunslane(dot)net> wrote:
>> Happily for me, I can continue to write documents in a grammatically
>> correct way, and no-one will read them and think I'm a grammar-nazi (or
>> obstinate, or old-fashioned or whatever) because unless they're specifically
>> looking for it no-one will notice that I'm avoiding the contentious usage
>> altogether. On the other hand, there _will_ be a (perhaps significant)
>> proportion of people who read your documents and think that you're incapable
>> of writing a grammatically correct sentence.
>
> Wow, 1960s feminazis, eh? I originally thought you were just a narrow
> minded, pedantic and antiquated grammarian. Now I realize that's the least
> of your troubles. Please take your misogyny elsewhere. I hear the Rabid
> Puppies have openings.

I think this discussion could benefit from a little more light and a
lot less heat.

Here's my contribution: the use of they does sometimes seek awkward.
However, it's not remotely new:

https://stroppyeditor.wordpress.com/2015/04/21/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-singular-they/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they#Older_usage_by_respected_authors
http://englishbibles.blogspot.com/2006/09/singular-they-in-english-bibles.html

And I do think it's generally worthwhile to avoid the use of "he"
where possible. Would I have done it exactly the way that Peter did
it here? Uh, no. Is it better than not doing anything? In my
opinion, yes.

--
Robert Haas
EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company