use of "them" in place of "him/her"

[stratusfearrr]

no, i came up with the status quo one. Sorta lame but oh well. haha

And of course most people won't say something like: "Well she is quite misandristic. She must loathe all men for their adaucious and misogynistic behavior"

Of course that is a lame example, but the point is there. Most people dont use that in casual settings, for fear of sounding pretentious. The only time i ever use large or unique words are in my essays, because the reader often doesnt know your usual vocabulary.

 

[Somervell]

Neither of your examples is lame, Stratus. It's just that status quo is frequently misused to suggest a group of people. (It's an English usage problem, not your problem.) When collective nouns are used as singular, then they take a single pronoun. When they are acting separately (As in "The faculty cast their votes.") it takes a plural pronoun. -- Thought maybe that was what your teacher was explaining.

 

[stratusfearrr]

nahh, and now that i question myself, is "status quo" an ideal where two parties of people are trying to stay on equal ground. And if the status quo shifts, then one party will be in danger?

haha, and thanks. They are just quick examples i made up

 

[Somervell]

Actually it means "the state of wishing things to remain in their current status," so it is completely impersonal and doesn't take a pronoun at all

 

[jpappy789]

Oddly enough, I'm not, either-- I only correct grammar when I get paid to do so (or when something really gets my goat-- like this argument and the random use of "random.")
Sorry I missed the partial sarcasm-- I guess I hear this SOOOO often on my job in all seriousness, that I assumed you weren't kidding. My bad. (Which is really not grammatically correct, either.)

In an academic setting I'm all about grammar, proper word usage, etc. but I hate when people consistently correct everyday speech. I feel that 9 times out of 10 its done in a condescending manner...

 

[stratusfearrr]

i agree jpap. the one correcting is making it seem that they are "smarter," when really they are just being rude

 

[Somervell]

You mean like the ever popular "I don't know, can you?" When someone asks if he can go to the bathroom-LOL.

 

[noodles62]

The decision of the status quo was left to his/her hands

OR

The decision of the status quo was left in thier hands.


IT is apparent which one sounds better, and flows easier.

Better learn how to spell if you're gonna pass the AP test :duh:

but seriously, that's pretty interesting

Isn't the rule "I before E except after C"? ...I know it is spelled wrong but what happened to the rules?!!?!? English is one of the hardest languages to learn.

 

[stratusfearrr]

english is the hardest language because there are exceptions to EVERY rule. haha

And, yes, can you? SO RUDE!

 

[arachnar]

I'm foreign born and came to America early enough to where english is totally dominant as the language I know best. I have to say that because it's such a mosaic of different influences and languages, many words follow no phonetic rules. I'm a good speller and pronounce most newly encountered words correctly but it can be quite bothersome at times and especially to people like my parents:duh:.

Most languages are thankfully phonetic like german and serbo-croation

Like Colonel, pronounced kernal-what gives?:nono:

Oviously how we emphasize a word also changes the sound completely like epitome sometimes mistakenly pronounced epi-tome to people who might have heard the word but have not seen it spelled.