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'Master' and 'slave': Tech terms face scrutiny amid anti-racism efforts
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tggzzz:
For amusement (mine at least, if not magic's :) ), and to ram home the point about "their/they" having a longstanding and standard meaning of "an indefinite person without specifying gender"...

Here's part of the OED reference https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/200700#eid18519864 with my emphasis (full formatting and characterset hasn't survived, of course; see the reference if in doubt)

they, pron., adj., adv., and n.
...
 2. In anaphoric reference to a singular noun or pronoun. Use of they to refer to a singular antecedent has sometimes been considered erroneous.
 a. <snipped>
 b. With an antecedent referring to an individual generically or indefinitely (e.g. someone, a person, the student), used esp. so as to make a general reference to such an individual without specifying gender. Cf. he pron. 2b.In the 21st century, other th– pronouns (and the possessive adjective their) are sometimes used to refer to a named individual, so as to avoid revealing or making an assumption about that person's gender; cf. sense A. 2c, and quots. 2008 at their adj. 2b, 2009 at them pron. 4b, 2009 at themself pron. 2b.
a1450   in Neuphilol. Mitteilungen (1948) 49 154 (MED)   If þou sall lofe, Þe person fyrste, I rede, þou proue Whether þat thay be fals or lele.
1526   W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. IIIiiiiv   If..a psalme scape any person, or a lesson, or els yt they omyt one verse or twayne.
1653   Mercurius Pragmaticus No. 8. 61   If any one of them so elected members die, the part which they serve for, have liberty to chuse and present another.
1759   Ld. Chesterfield Let. 27 Apr. (1932) (modernized text) V. 2350   If a person is born of a..gloomy temper..they cannot help it.
1818   H. B. Fearon Sketches Amer. 80   Servants, let me here observe, are called ‘helps’. If you call a servant by that name they leave you without notice.
1877   J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera VII. lxxx. 234   I am never angry with anybody unless they deserve it.
1940   Educational Forum May 423/1   True education is based upon the needs of the pupil... The needs of the pupil are expressed in the activities in which they are engaged.
1968   Listener 3 Oct. 440/3   When somebody becomes prime minister they're immediately put on a pedestal.
2019   @_ShristiUprety 26 Aug. in twitter.com (accessed 28 Aug.)    My personal rule is to never trust anyone who says that they had a good time in high school.
Siwastaja:
I think coppice nailed it above; in some cases, singular "they" just sounds so right and natural that magic does not pay any attention to it, hence does not think this usage exists. This causes a bias when focusing to those cases where it does not sound natural. These particular use cases are possibly rare, or new.
magic:
From the earlier post, which I presume quotes the same Oxford dictionary (or some older edition thereof)


--- Quote ---usage: The word they (with its counterparts them, their, and themselves) as a singular pronoun to refer to a person of unspecified gender has been used since at least the 16th century.[how often?] In the late 20th century, as the traditional use of he to refer to a person of either gender came under scrutiny on the grounds of sexism, this use of they became more common. It is now generally accepted in contexts where it follows an indefinite pronoun such as anyone, no one, someone, or a person, as in anyone can join if they are a resident and each to their own. In other contexts, coming after singular nouns, the use of they is now common, though less widely accepted, especially in formal contexts. Sentences such as ask a friend if they could help are still criticized for being ungrammatical. Nevertheless, in view of the growing acceptance of they and its obvious practical advantages, they is used in this dictionary in many cases where he would have been used formerly. In a more recent development, they is now being used to refer to specific individuals (as in Alex is bringing their laptop). Like the gender-neutral honorific Mx1, the singular they is preferred by some individuals who identify as neither male nor female. See also usage at he and she.
--- End quote ---

Sounds like the points I argue. It used to be obscure, sometimes employed by writers to avoid awkward confusion, more notably revived by SJWs (earlier than I knew about, fair enough), perhaps slowly creeping into everyday language (no idea about that, but it certainly wasn't commonplace in the 2000s) and completely normalized over the last decade to the point where people would be throwing eggs at NYT headquarters if they dared to use "neutral he" anywhere.
bd139:
Slight linguistic diversion but I'm interested to see if anyone has been triggered by languages with grammatical gender yet? That's fundamentally a part of the core language constructs so to fix any perceived ill-treatment of a gender you'd have to destroy a whole language and culture  :popcorn:
magic:
Whole language - not yet, but some gendered names of professions are problematic :)
For most of them there are obvious male/female variants (like actor/actress) but some are awkward.
And there is the question which gender to use when referring to the profession as such and why nurses should be different than engineers :D


--- Quote from: SilverSolder on June 22, 2020, 12:31:52 pm ---Success may make people fat and lazy...    I recall riding with a young Pakistani taxi driver years ago....  we got on well, and as part of a bigger conversation I asked him why Pakistanis were running all the local stores in the town.  His answer stuck with me:  "My parents' generation came here and worked every hour God sent for a better life.  My generation is just as lazy as you guys!"

--- End quote ---
And if they don't become a welfare addicted pathology they will be voting Trump in yet another generation.
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