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Date: 16 Jul 91 00:21:46 GMT
From: eachus@mitre-bedford.arpa  (Robert I. Eachus)
Subject: Re: Is there a comp.lang.english to which I can post this?
Message-ID: <EACHUS.91Jul15172146@largo.mitre.org>
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>

In article <9107101438.AA10589@bunny.gte.com> diederich_r_%ncsd.dnet@GTE.COM (R
ay Diederich (301)-294-8400) writes:

   In article <EACHUS.91Jul9173612@largo.mitre.org>, (Robert I. Eachus) writes:

   >   Dikstra once said that the best predictor of success in the field
   >of programming was a person's ability to use their native language.

   This sentence is not proper english. It should be:

   "Dikstra once said that the best predictor of success in the field
   of programming was the people's ability to use their native language."

   What is _your_ native language, Robert? :-)

   THIS IS SHEER ERRANT PENDANTRY UP WITH WHICH I SHALL NOT PUT!!!!
You put words in my mouth to try and be pedantic.  Bad form.  A person
is correct and was intended, Dikstra was talking about predicting the
success of a student--singular.  However, Dikstra said something closer
to "a student's facility in his native language."  (I'll have to look
it up, the meeting was over ten years ago, but I recently ran across
the proceedings.)  Since I was paraphrasing I took the opportunity to
make the quote less gender specific. (HIS ability to use HIS native
language seemed excessive, and HIS OR HER ability to use HIS OR HER
native language, I would not touch. I thought about a student's...,
but we are talking about someine being considered for studenthood, so
that is not quite true.)  

   So now we come to the question of when or whether `their' is the
correct possesive pronoun for `a person.'  When a specific person is
intended, the possesive form should always be `his' (or in some cases
`her').  When it is being used a placeholder as above or as in `a
person or persons unknown' the number is indefinite and the proper
possive is the plural, `their,' although this rule is not always
followed.  I guess I now think that this is a case where it would have
been less confusing (but less politically correct) to use `his.'

    Where you said, "This sentence is not proper english. It should
be..."  I quite agree.  What is your native language?


					Robert I. Eachus

with STANDARD_DISCLAIMER;
use  STANDARD_DISCLAIMER;
function MESSAGE (TEXT: in CLEVER_IDEAS) return BETTER_IDEAS is...
--

					Robert I. Eachus

with STANDARD_DISCLAIMER;
use  STANDARD_DISCLAIMER;
function MESSAGE (TEXT: in CLEVER_IDEAS) return BETTER_IDEAS is...