Undetermined Genders and Grammar

Yes, I know "they" is incorrect when talking about one person whose gender is unspecified, but it's just such a pain to constantly use "he or she"/"his or her"/etc fifty times when discussing a hypothetical situation.

Maybe from now on I will give the people in my hypothetical scenarios genders beforehand so I can still be grammatically correct without having to deal with it.

How do you feel about these situations? Are you so uptight about it that not only will you stick with it through an entire speech, but also pick apart this post for the tiniest of errors? Will you go on with your "they"s because you really couldn't give less of a smurf about grammar if you tried?

I go with a generic he.

For some reason, I almost always use "they" even if I know the gender of the person. If I'm not using their name, most of the time I say "They said [so and so]." Is that unusual?

I either use "they" or "he" (though I would not use the former in a formal paper).

One (pronoun) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I use one in most situations.

Go BLACKMAGE!

One is okay if you're just mentioning the subject once or twice, more than that and it starts sounding kinda contrived. I mostly just either use they, or pick a gender and stick to it, sometimes including a dummy name to emphasize that it's just an example.

"One" is applicable for different circumstances, though; it is not directly interchangeable with all instances of "he/she" or "they" in sentences where the gender of a single person is unknown. I use "one" as a pronoun myself, but I don't think that answers the question.

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Originally Posted by blackmage_nuke

One (pronoun) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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And then I sound like a pretentious little snoot :(

Not really! You just sound correct!

I use "one" in essays once and a while.

I use one and they.

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Originally Posted by Jessweeee♪

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Originally Posted by blackmage_nuke

One (pronoun) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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And then I sound like a pretentious little snoot :(

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It's an essay though. You're supposed to sound like a pretentious little snoot.

I wasn't talking about essays! I just mean everyday conversation or posting.

Oh, then I just say they. I never actually heard someone other than Stephen Hawking say "one" while conversing.

"Someone?"

That gets confusing when talking about two people! I just tested it out and it didn't work :(

There are appropriate times to use "one". Usually you'd replace it when we'd say "you" or "we".

I.e., "Usually one would replace it when one would say 'you' or 'we.'"

There is a whole other issue when dealing with transgendered people, though! If you do not know the gender they consider themselves to be, what do you do?

When in doubt, in any situation, I usually go for "they." We're going to need a gender-neutral third person singular pronoun anyway.

Are there languages that have one? If so then they are my favorite languages ever.

Yes, but none you speak. The Web of Language
Gender-neutral pronoun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I post and im really lazily so it's whatever sounds like less of a pain to type at that moment. If I'm talking to someone or writing a paper I use 'one' or 'he/she' and sometimes even just 'he' if I want to be lazy with that.

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Originally Posted by Jessweeee♪

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Originally Posted by blackmage_nuke

One (pronoun) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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And then I sound like a pretentious little snoot :(

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Actually I find one is used more when someone is being humble (when used as first person pronoun anyway)

Actually no, now that I think about it I hear about it used in both ways, by pretentious snoots and humble people, just like any other pronoun or word in the english language

I use they. It's news to me that it's not right for papers. Oh well, I'll continue anyway.

John Clancey Adams is a smart man. He wants to be asian.

John Clancey Adams is a smart man. One wants to be asian....[wat]
People are likely to be smart. That is if they are asian.
One would do well to be asian if they want to be smart.

Aha!

Anyone who thinks they are smart had better be asian.

You shut the hell up, PG.

Never underestimate a good "it". :D

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Originally Posted by NorthernChaosGod

You shut the hell up, PG.

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one ought to shut up lest they be Asian.

I have been programmed to use "he" in those situations. Used "they" until my English professors broke me of that habit. Anyone who whines about male-dominance (have actually had two people do that to me) gets nothing but a look of pity.