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In reply to the discussion: Ban on Banning Words [View all]merrily
(45,251 posts)78. "Jackie is a female." Noun. Jackie has female genitalia." Adjective.
"Correct" usage is a very close relative of "common" usage. It is what is considered "standard" usage at any given time.
For some reason, "ain't" never became standard usage, no matter how common it became in everyday speech and "thou" has ceased to be common and standard, even though it was once perfectly correct. As with everything else, subjectivity is involved. Nothing carved in stone that it entirely objective.
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As I indicated in my post, I certainly would happily use non-gender specific pronouns.
branford
Sep 2015
#63
Ah, but that discriminates against people who identify as intersexuals
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
Sep 2015
#85
You would have to hear it in regular use coming from those who use it regularly to understand.
dogknob
Sep 2015
#54
No, not "professor's class, professor's rules," particularly at a state institution.
branford
Sep 2015
#19
The goals of a college class are not to indoctrinate students or demand social compliance.
branford
Sep 2015
#34
The administration acted to prevent the inevitable lawsuits once the syllabi became public.
branford
Sep 2015
#67
Virtually all "civility policies" at public institutions cannot survive judicial scrutiny.
branford
Sep 2015
#70
Again, in most instances, a professor can set rules to prevent legitimate disruption
branford
Sep 2015
#73