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What about this one? I have noticed during the past 20-25 years
that the use of "Everybody (everyone, each, somebody, etc...) has
THEIR own way of doing things" has steadily been replacing
"Everybody (etc)....HIS own etc" even in "learned
discourse" I attribute this to the influence of the women's
movement in making America more aware and sensitive to sexism in society
in general and in the English language in particular. I have tried
to use "his/her" (clumsy as it is) as a way to preserve
subject-verb agreement, and I notice some others use "her" as a
sort of overcompensation; but with each passing year I see
"their" picking up more momentum in all corners, even in
Academia. Has this been picked up on any "official
radar?" Is it in any usage dictionaries yet? Are there
any other grammar formalists out there who cringe like I do when they
hear this?<br>
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At 08:40 PM 4/16/01, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite cite>At 10:10 AM -0400 4/17/01, P2052@AOL.COM
wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite cite><font size=2>A number of the older grammar
books/style manuals claim that either<br>
acceptable. <br>
In<i> The Complete Stylist and Handbook, 3rd ed.</i> (1984), Sheridan
acknowledges<br>
both a singular and a plural usage; however, he embraces the singular
sense<br>
of<i> none</i>: "<i>None of them are</i>, of course is very
common. From Shakespeare's<br>
time to ours, it has persisted alongside the more precise<i> none of them
is</i>,<br>
which seems to have the edge in careful prose, since it follows the
structure<br>
of English, matching singular with singular" (354).
</font></blockquote><br>
I find this argument entirely circular and question-begging, besides
flying in the face of centuries of distinguished usage.<br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite cite><font size=2>He cites the following<br>
examples:<br>
<b><i>FAULTY</i></b>: <i>None</i> of these men<i> are</i>
failures.<br>
<b><i>REVISED</i></b>: <i>None</i> of these men<i> is</i> a failure.<br>
<b><i>FAULTY</i></b>: <i>None</i> of the class, even those best prepared<i>, want</i><br>
the test.<br>
<b><i>REVISED</i>: </b><i>None</i> of the class, even those best prepared,<i><br>
wants</i> the<br>
test.<br>
Note that these uses of<i> none</i> are the equivalent of<i> not one</i>. </blockquote><br>
</font>Actually, I'm not sure that "none" = 'not one' in the second example: "Not one of the class wants the test"? In any case, this equivalence (often used by earlier prescriptivists as a rationale for the singular agreement) is a bit of a red herring, since the one case where everyone has always used singular agreement, "none of the X" for mass noun X, doesn't permit a "not one" paraphrase. <br>
<br>
larry</blockquote></html>