[Ads-l] Really?

[Laurence Horn]

Sorry, I'm a Facebook virgin.  So that answers the question--it had nothing to do with what kind of name "Keren" is but the "their" really was a singular pronoun, for whatever reason known only to the FB pronoun generator.  Interesting.

LH

> On Jun 3, 2015, at 9:38 PM, Geoff Nathan <an6993 at WAYNE.EDU> wrote:
> 
> And it's her birthday today, and therefore the cause of this discussion (I assume). Many of us are Facebook friends of hers and therefore posted on her FB page. 
> 
> Geoff 
> 
> Geoffrey S. Nathan 
> Faculty Liaison, C&IT 
> and Professor, Linguistics Program 
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> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> 
>> From: "Laurence Horn" <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Sent: Wednesday, June 3, 2015 8:45:17 PM
>> Subject: Re: Really?
> 
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster: Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>> Subject: Re: Really?
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>> The only Keren I've ever known is Keren Rice of the U. of Toronto =
>> linguistics department. She's a recent president of the LSA, my
>> former =
>> co-chair on the LSA Program Committee, and (despite being Canadian)
>> an =
>> elected fellow of the AAAS as well as a holder of various Canadian =
>> hono(u)rs (cf. https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__en.wikipedia.org_wiki_Keren-5FRice&d=AwICaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=QM_iYZMnOF-N3q85QYCk5FJx3nnVupPkMPOo5UAeo7g&s=rg1vjQToJLCETD3sUH3ACjpVVkqJ8nmDBR_R1teJa0I&e= ). =20
> 
>> Note that she takes the feminine singular pronoun.
> 
>> LH
> 
>>> On Jun 3, 2015, at 4:19 PM, Jonathan Lighter
>>> <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> =
>> wrote:
>>> =20
>>> Because "Keren" could be a unisex name.
>>> =20
>>> Doesn't good grammar mean anything anymore?
>>> =20
>>> JL
>>> =20
>>> JL
>>> =20
>>> On Wed, Jun 3, 2015 at 2:54 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> =20
>>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>> -----------------------
>>>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>> Poster: Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>>>> Subject: Really?
>>>> =20
>>>> =
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------=
>> -----
>>>> =20
>>>> "47 friends posted on Keren's timeline for their birthday."
>>>> =20
>>>> =20
>>>> Why did they do that, I wonder.
>>>> =20
>>>> --
>>>> -Wilson
>>>> -----
>>>> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange
>>>> complaint =
>> to
>>>> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>>>> -Mark Twain
>>>> =20
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> The American Dialect Society - =
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>> LkdgUSHSKCp5Nj8Z-jhUL-b9HmUkDo9JLlM24&e=3D=20
>>>> =20
>>> =20
>>> =20
>>> =20
>>> --=20
>>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>>> =
>> truth."
>>> =20
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