<html>
<body>
<font size=3>Fourth plausible interpretation:<br>
4) Cain is British.<br>
It isn't too soon to hunt up his birth certificate. The first
presidential primary is perhaps only 2 months away.<br><br>
Joel<br><br>
At 10/16/2011 05:33 PM, Victor Steinbok wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">This is actually the third
plausible interpretation under which "they"<br>
is perfectly normal (I am assuming, you mean "gender-avoiding
they").<br><br>
So, for me, any one of these three is fine:<br><br>
1) gender-avoiding singular "they", referring to a nameless
President<br>
2) ordinary "they", referring to "government" as an
organization<br>
3) ordinary "they", referring to both the President an the
government<br>
together<br><br>
So any way one reads that statement, there is nothing "odd"
about<br>
"they". Drezner ought to be spanked.<br><br>
VS-)<br><br>
On 10/16/2011 3:29 PM, Michael Newman wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">It seems like a pretty standard
singular they. It's a "whoever is the president." Let's
not get all prescriptivist here.<br>
Michael Newman<br>
Associate Professor of Linguistics<br>
Queens College/CUNY<br>
michael.newman@qc.cuny.edu<br><br>
<br><br>
On Oct 16, 2011, at 8:32 PM, Joel S. Berson wrote:<br><br>
At 10/16/2011 12:18 PM, Victor Steinbok wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">There is a barely noticeable
quibble Dan Drezner posted this morning. He<br>
is responding to Herman Cain's "foreign policy" (which he says
is<br>
nonexistent, but that's another matter entirely).<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""> The primary
duty of the President of the United States is to<br>
protect our people. In fact, it is the principal duty
of a<br>
limited federal government. They must ensure that our
military<br>
and all of our security agencies are strong and
capable.</blockquote>I'm with you so far, Mr. Cain -- my only objection
is your odd pronoun<br>
choice of "they."</blockquote>The first paragraph is Cain's,
the second Drezner's. Personally, I don't<br>
see anything particularly odd about the choice of "they",
irrespectively<br>
of whether it refers to "the President and a limited federal
government"<br>
or just the "government". The latter might sound more British
than SAE,<br>
but I'd be perfectly happy to use it. But, I suspect, Drezner
totally<br>
missed the possibility of the former--which would make /his/ comment<br>
"odd". YMMV</blockquote>But the ultimate limited federal
government is<br>
singular -- just one person. Cain, who is<br>
otherwise alleged to be direct, should have said "he" (or
īt").<br><br>
Joel</blockquote></blockquote><br>
------------------------------------------------------------<br>
The American Dialect Society -
<a href="http://www.americandialect.org/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.americandialect.org</a></font></blockquote></body>
</html>
------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org