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sapinker's profile
Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
Verified account
@sapinker

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Steven PinkerVerified account

@sapinker

Cognitive scientist at Harvard.

Boston, MA
pinker.wjh.harvard.edu
Joined January 2010

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    Steven Pinker‏Verified account @sapinker 18 Jul 2016

    Obama: "No American should be under a cloud of suspicion because of what they look like" Grammatical error?http://goo.gl/hj1xli 

    10:09 AM - 18 Jul 2016
    • 20 Retweets
    • 60 Likes
    • Caleb Busch Afropolitan in Suburbia Dr Harish P Uncle Lana Anna Krein Collin Vas Francisco Torralba Ian Canon Kellie Wick ☮️
    19 replies 20 retweets 60 likes
      1. Armand D'Angour‏ @ArmandDAngour 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        'The use of the plural pronouns 'they', 'them', etc. with a grammatically singular antecedent dates back at least to 1300.' Satis!

        0 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
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      1. akjrobert‏ @akjrobert 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        "Singular they" solves a lot of problems concisely. No wonder Shakespeare and Obama both use it.

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1.  🐝ees and Honey‏ @summershoney 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        It's fine. Even in UK, where we care about these things. See how that wasn't a sentence and I didn't even care?

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1. Gillian‏ @gilliantweet 19 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        No. Using a plural instead of gender specific singular is accepted practice.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Susan P. Cohen‏ @PetDecisions 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        I still twitch a little, but I think that boat has sailed. It's too hard to say "her or his".

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. roldan‏ @senorroldan 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        colloquially correct

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Not Scott F.‏ @notscottf 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        Interesting, but I thought we could do away with the awkward "he or she" by now. I thought you would go after "like" at the end...

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. New conversation
      2. Brendon J. Brewer‏ @brendonbrewer 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker @charleendadams

        My intuition completely accepts singular they. Took three reads to find the 'error'.

        1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      3. David Manheim‏ @davidmanheim 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @brendonbrewer @sapinker @charleendadams

        David Manheim Retweeted Merriam-Webster

        The singular they? @MerriamWebster approves;https://twitter.com/MerriamWebster/status/749248017954377728 …

        David Manheim added,

        Merriam-WebsterVerified account @MerriamWebster
        Replying to @smarick
        then you're talking to the wrong dictionary—we're descriptivists. We follow language, language doesn't follow us 😁
        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
      4. End of conversation
      1. Patric Holm‏ @patricholm 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        I wasn't aware of the controversy. What is the alternative? "he or she", etc?

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Fen Jordan‏ @FenJordan1 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        We don't use Red or Yellow anymore. Why use Black and White?

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Graham Sutton‏ @grahamjsutton 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        No such accusation from this Brit. Great usage

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Jay‏ @jaymusin 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        lost in translation from Arabic to English.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Peter Donaldson‏ @PDWriter 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        If we could eliminate the dehumanisation, "it" would be a useful gender neutral pronoun. If not, we might need a new word. Herm?

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Howard Bussey‏ @7hwrd 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        Grammar is like manners: taught so one/they can tell how you have been trained, with a smattering of consideration.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. BarryButler‏ @barryjbutler 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        I thought this one had been put to bed ages ago. :)

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. ReignOfFrogs‏ @HerefortheTROLL 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        BLM leaders keep stirring up trouble and now you cut loose the gammarians ?

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Moloch's Bartender‏ @GerardHarbison 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        If 'they' is singular, then why does it precede a plural verb form?

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Underdog‏ @rdbrewer4 18 Jul 2016
        Replying to @sapinker

        All clouds could possibly look like clouds of suspicion.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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