This is why some people insist on the generic he in English. A few hundred years ago, some British asshole who thought Latin was a perfect language decided to impose Latin rules on English, including such nonsense as “you can’t end a sentence with a preposition” and “never split infinitives”, as well as proscribing the then-common singular they in favor of “he”. The damage he did to the English language is still not fully repaired.
But not ending a sentence with a preposition lead to a surprising grammar joke in “Beavis and Butthead Do America” which was one of the highlights of my early twenties.
This is why some people insist on the generic he in English. A few hundred years ago, some British asshole who thought Latin was a perfect language decided to impose Latin rules on English, including such nonsense as “you can’t end a sentence with a preposition” and “never split infinitives”, as well as proscribing the then-common singular they in favor of “he”. The damage he did to the English language is still not fully repaired.
But not ending a sentence with a preposition lead to a surprising grammar joke in “Beavis and Butthead Do America” which was one of the highlights of my early twenties.
It was really something magnificent to behold :)
the singular they is pretty cool
Who is this Brit, I want to have a word