[Top][All Lists]
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: manual style
From: |
Ralph Little |
Subject: |
Re: manual style |
Date: |
Wed, 8 Sep 2004 14:13:23 +0100 |
Hi,
Yeh, I object, but only 'cause I'm a bloke! ;)
More seriously, I've not seen many pronoun references, and I think that
it is generally better to avoid them altogether if at all possible with
direct command-like phrases.
I must admit to some surprise that there is such a standard that
determines feminine for gender non-specific pronouns, since it is
obviously not.
Everything that I've read uses either male or *very* occasionally a
mixture every other chapter.
The trouble is, determining a one-size-fits-all rule for this kind of
think can be too restrictive.
For example, when describing old professional music engravers, he/she
would be, almost without exception, male. Somebody correct me if I'm
wrong.
Referring to "her" would be inappropriate and silly.
I think that it is not a subject that bothers most people or maybe
that's a male perspective so I would vote for "male, but avoid pronouns
wherever possible".
Regards,
Ralph
>
========================================================================
==============
> - Current English academic[1] writing style is to use the feminine
> pronoun as a gender-neutral pronoun. "A composer might want to do
foo,
> so she should write bar in her LilyPond score". Yes, in the past[2]
> English used the male pronoun for non-gender specific texts (ie
replace
> "she" with "he" and "her" with "his" in the above example). I've
> changed such occurrences in the manual to reflect this[3].
--------------------------------------
address@hidden
www.tribaldata.co.uk
...or see what I do in my spare time:
www.skelmanthorpeband.org
--------------------------------------
"Man who shoot off mouth... expect to lose face."
---------
Tribal Data Solutions has moved, please visit our website for more details
http://www.tribaldata.co.uk.
This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and are sent on the basis of
our copyright, e-mail and security policy which can be inspected by visiting
http://www.tribaldata.co.uk/policies.asp.
If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender and delete this
message. Thank you.
-----------
- manual style, Graham Percival, 2004/09/07
- Re: manual style,
Ralph Little <=