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Kate's linguistic textbook has just shot down my grammatical adherence to non-inclusive language...
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, masculine pronouns were not used as the generic terms; the various forms of he were used when referring to males, and of she when referring to females. The pronoun they was used to refer to people of either sex even if the referent was a singular noun, as shown by Lord Chesterfield's statement in 1759: 'If a person is born of a gloomy temper... they cannot help it.
By the eighteenth century, grammarians (males to be sure) created the rule designating the male pronoun as the general term, and it wasn't until the nineteenth century that the rule was applied widely, after an Act of parliament in the United Kingdom in 1850 sanctioned its use. But this generic use of he was ignored.
which makes me wonder... could the current parliament of the UK repleal said law? what would be the social implications thereof?
moreover, i am delighted to find there was once a time when grammar was of such importance that Parliament was passing acts on it :)
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, masculine pronouns were not used as the generic terms; the various forms of he were used when referring to males, and of she when referring to females. The pronoun they was used to refer to people of either sex even if the referent was a singular noun, as shown by Lord Chesterfield's statement in 1759: 'If a person is born of a gloomy temper... they cannot help it.
By the eighteenth century, grammarians (males to be sure) created the rule designating the male pronoun as the general term, and it wasn't until the nineteenth century that the rule was applied widely, after an Act of parliament in the United Kingdom in 1850 sanctioned its use. But this generic use of he was ignored.
which makes me wonder... could the current parliament of the UK repleal said law? what would be the social implications thereof?
moreover, i am delighted to find there was once a time when grammar was of such importance that Parliament was passing acts on it :)