http://practiceblawg.com/2010/03/avoid-sexist-language/ Tue, 15 May 2012 04:57:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://practiceblawg.com/2010/03/avoid-sexist-language/comment-page-1/#comment-329 Gregory Luce Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:21:38 +0000 http://practiceblawg.com/?p=1568#comment-329 That's great to hear. Nancy did a nice job on this one and I too come back to it now and then for pointers. That’s great to hear. Nancy did a nice job on this one and I too come back to it now and then for pointers.

]]> http://practiceblawg.com/2010/03/avoid-sexist-language/comment-page-1/#comment-328 Boyd Johnson Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:46:07 +0000 http://practiceblawg.com/?p=1568#comment-328 I keep coming back to this post as a reference. Excellent advice. I keep coming back to this post as a reference. Excellent advice.

]]> http://practiceblawg.com/2010/03/avoid-sexist-language/comment-page-1/#comment-129 Gregory Luce Sun, 21 Mar 2010 19:33:16 +0000 http://practiceblawg.com/?p=1568#comment-129 I came across one caveat to using the plural possessive pronoun, such as "their." A Mall of America ad on a large billboard along i-35W in Minneapolis proclaims "It's all fun and good until someone swallows their retainer." Oops. Last time I looked "someone" was singular, and the verb "swallows" correctly matches that distinction. Unfortunately, the "their" does not agree with the singular "someone." The inelegant way would have been "It's all good and fun until someone swallows his or her retainer." Or, perhaps, "it's all good and fun until they swallow their retainers." Or, under your great examples, the ad should have been "It's all fun and good until someone swallows a retainer." Much simpler. I came across one caveat to using the plural possessive pronoun, such as “their.” A Mall of America ad on a large billboard along i-35W in Minneapolis proclaims “It’s all fun and good until someone swallows their retainer.” Oops. Last time I looked “someone” was singular, and the verb “swallows” correctly matches that distinction. Unfortunately, the “their” does not agree with the singular “someone.” The inelegant way would have been “It’s all good and fun until someone swallows his or her retainer.” Or, perhaps, “it’s all good and fun until they swallow their retainers.” Or, under your great examples, the ad should have been “It’s all fun and good until someone swallows a retainer.” Much simpler.

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