Re: [rfc/rfa:doc] INTEGER_TO_ADDRESS; Was: INTEGER_TO_ADDRESS(), thoughts?

Andrew Cagney
2001-10-10T14:59:00Z

>
> Here "When the user copies" is single, but the rest of the sentence
> says "their source", "pass it", and "they should get", which are all
> plural. To my ear this sounds wrong, but that's just me.
>
> It is likely gender neutral australian. I'm going to do some digging.

Checking http://www.dict.mq.edu.au/ and searching for ``their'' and
``they'' I've found:

their

determiner 1. the possessive form of they. 2. (used with singular force
in informal contexts, and increasingly in formal contexts, in place of a
gender-specific form when the sex of the antecedent is not determined):
who has left their pen on my desk? [Middle English, from Scandinavian]
Usage: See note at they.

they

pronoun (personal) third person, plural, subjective (them) 1. plural of
he, she, and it. 2. people in general: they say he is rich. 3. (used
with singular force in informal contexts, and increasingly in formal
contexts, in place of a gender-specific form where the sex of the
antecedent is not determined): if anybody cheats they will be
disqualified. [Middle English; from Scandinavian]
Usage: The use of they, them, and their as non-gender-specific singulars
(as in a doctor and their patients) has always had currency in spoken
English and is now increasingly accepted in written English. This use of
they gives rise to the form themself for the reflexive pronoun by
analogy with myself, himself, etc.

enjoy,
Andrew