Pronouns and bad analogies
Sometimes I think isolation is a good thing and only adds to the quality of an editorial life. At other times – surrounded by words and expressions I don’t understand and yearning for a sentence in concise, plain English – I feel lonely. So imagine my delight this week when someone dangled some bad writing at the Dangling Modifier.
The source did not identify his or herself, but it was clear from the bad writing they linked to in their email that they are an “educational professional”.
Yes I have used the plural pronoun ‘they’ – as an epicene pronoun – instead of using ‘his or her’. There are a few interesting thoughts floating around the blogosphere on this subject. Linguist, Peter Harvey, feels we should use ‘it’ instead of ‘they’ to denote a singular person of unknown gender. He claims we do already for babies and children. (A few outings round the parks of London might prompt him to reconsider that assumption).
Then there’s the copy-editor at Copyediting blog (who is themself – can I write that?) of unknown number and gender.
And finally Back of the Cereal Box who writes an interesting post about epicene pronouns throughout history.
All interesting stuff! But after thinking about the complexities of grammar and syntax, may be you would like some light relief?
By asking you that, I’m actually trying to get inside the minds of the copywriters at the Department for Education and Skills, who – probably because they realise ‘continued professional development’ (or CPD as they call it) is very boring – have/has treated their/its readers to the vision of Kevin Costner flexing his knees.
Here is the link sent by the mystery reader of the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) website:
Whoever wrote this must have really enjoyed the film, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Note the detail:
- the bit about the horse being sent back to create a false trail
- the description of the “tube of leather with a glass ball in one end”. (Personally, I haven’t seen the film and that description doesn’t help me visualise anything.
I wonder if there’s something I’ve missed here? Something that is very significant to the whole concept of continue professional development? Well yes there is! It turns out that research is like the “tube of leather with a glass ball in one end”. According to the DfES:
“Research can reveal information that isn’t obvious.”
But don’t be lulled into a false sense of security, because:
“Research isn’t a substitute for teaching and learning any more than the telescope provides safety.”
Which, I suppose, is one reason to keep debating the virtues or otherwise of epicene pronouns.
