Essay About Giraffe Photographers And Saturday Night

“giraffe Photographers”, by Peter Birt. the Globe and Mail. Toronto, ont.: Sep 9, 1998. Pg.
Warren Clements objects to the use of “they” or “them” to refer back to a singular pronoun, on
the grounds that doing so would lead to ambiguity. He gave as his example, “Since the giraffes
were in plain view, everyone reached for their cameras. How those giraffes got cameras, Ill
never know.” But using “his” or “her” instead of “their” in this sort of situation makes the
language no less ambiguous, as exactly the same problem arises with the singular pronoun: Since
the giraffe was in plain view, everyone reached for his or her camera. Now we want to know not
just how the giraffe got a camera, but also what sex the giraffe is.
Excerpt from “Grammar that gr8s on your nerves”, by Warren Clements. The Globe and Mail.
Toronto, Ont.: Dec 19, 2001. pg. R.2
The transformation of the pronoun “everyone” into a singular subject that miraculously doubles
as a plural antecedent continues. Many people resort to this uncomfortable contradiction to get
around the clumsiness of the expression “his or her.” Instead of “everyone has his reasons,” they
say, “Everyone has their reasons.” Saturday Night Live actor Jimmy Fallon was quoted in the
October issue of Talk magazine as saying, “Its like a dorm up there. Everyone has their own
office, their own room.” The same applies to “no one”: No one is able to believe their luck. Its
an increasingly common escape route, but no less clumsy for that. Better to insert singular
possessive pronouns at random: Everyone has her reasons, everyone is his own boss. Get both
sexes mad at you.
“There are rules for everyone and anyone”, by Warren Clements. The Globe and Mail. Toronto,
Ont.: May 2, 2009. pg. R.18
In the world of everyone and anyone, the score is sensitivity 1, grammatical logic 0. The
standard rules are broken so frequently and so casually that they are being replaced by new rules.
“Everyone” is regularly given a singular verb and a plural pronoun. Everyone has their reasons.
Everyone knows what is expected of them. The motive