Posted by Jack Thompson on 09/15/06 06:01

Richard Crowley wrote:
> "Jack Thompson" <jacqueszmonkey@aol.com> wrote ...
> > What is your source on THE RULES OF GRAMMAR?
> >
> > While "his" may have been acceptable in the past, very few style
> > manuals find it acceptable today. Most recommend rewriting the
> > sentence
> > completely and, if this is not possible, using "his or her."
>
> I think you have rules of grammar confused with rules of
> Political Correctness.

Sometimes adding the "or her" is just for political correctness. But in
the case that started all of this, where writing "his" would imply that
the writer knows the engineer is a male, it simply makes the sentence
more clear.

Everyone should check out the thread "his or their when gender unknown"
in alt.usage.english. It uses the "engineer..coffee..." sentence as a
starting point.

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