negative payload "he"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Well, there are various levels of PC.  The possibility that the usage resulted from a slip of the tongue can't be ruled out either.

JL

Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Laurence Horn
Subject: Re: negative payload "he"
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At 4:55 AM -0700 9/22/05, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

>Larry, I think all we disagree on is Shaw's precise reason(s) for
>substituting "they" for "he." Your position is that it probably
>resulted from a specific rhetorical intention; mine is that it may
>reflect a widespread, if as yet subtle, uneasiness about "he."

Right. Another point to consider on my side of the argument is that
someone like Clay Shaw would be among the least likely to adopt
"they" for reasons of "political correctness". That makes it more
likely, I'd submit, that he had the covert reference to Blanco in
mind.

>All of your exx. sound normally informal to me. What makes Shaw's
>usage different and remarkable is that it referred to a definitely
>known person. It seemed so markedly incongruous to me that I posted
>it - something I wouldn't have done for any of the exx. listed.

Agreed--I included those to show that while there are clear instances
of "they" used when the sex of the referent is known, they almost
always occur in the absence of any specific reference, which
your/Clay's case didn't.

L


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