Singular "they" revisited

Athel Cornish-Bowden

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Nov 12, 2012, 1:49:14 AM11/12/12

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"I really don’t give a damn where some politician or celebrity is
putting their penis" (P. Z. Myers today at Pharyngula).

It seems to me it would be safe to put "his" there.

--
athel

Robert Carnegie: Fnord: cc talk-origins@moderators.isc.org

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Nov 12, 2012, 2:47:12 AM11/12/12

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The Internet says different.

Burkhard

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Nov 12, 2012, 2:48:49 AM11/12/12

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On 12 Nov, 06:52, Athel Cornish-Bowden <acorn...@imm.cnrs.fr> wrote:
> "I really donï¿½t give a damn where some politician or celebrity is

Maybe he wants to include female series killer politicians who keep
trophies? But then, shouldn't we care about them?

Glenn

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Nov 12, 2012, 4:42:24 AM11/12/12

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"Athel Cornish-Bowden" <acor...@imm.cnrs.fr> wrote in message news:agbkf2...@mid.individual.net...

> "I really don’t give a damn where some politician or celebrity is
> putting their penis" (P. Z. Myers today at Pharyngula).
>

Myers' brain continues to atrophy. The head of the CIA isn't "some politician" or "celebrity", and the FBI is not a gossip column.

pnyikos

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Nov 12, 2012, 8:27:38 AM11/12/12

to nyi...@bellsouth.net

On Nov 12, 4:47ï¿½am, "Glenn" <glennshel...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> "Athel Cornish-Bowden" <acorn...@imm.cnrs.fr> wrote in messagenews:agbkf2...@mid.individual.net...
> > "I really donï¿½t give a damn where some politician or celebrity is

> > putting their penis" (P. Z. Myers today at Pharyngula).

As Athel said in an "emperor has no clothes" style remark, "his" is
perfectly safe for putting in place of "their".

And one of the "emperor's defenders" has already been heard from in
reply.

> Myers' brain continues to atrophy. The head of the CIA isn't "some politician" or "celebrity", and the FBI is not a gossip column.

Also, isn't there a standard term for someone making a denial/
affirmation and immediately saying something that undercuts that
denial/affirmation?

A classic example is in Shakespeare's "Othello," when Iago says the
following [quoted from memory]:

"I'd rather have this tongue cut from my mouth, than that it should do
disservice to Michael Cassio."

This was in response to a question by Othello as to who started a
brawl that was due to Iago egging Roderigo on to taunt Michael
Cassio. Iago conveniently omitted that detail in recounting the
incident.

Peter Nyikos

Athel Cornish-Bowden

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Nov 12, 2012, 2:46:51 PM11/12/12

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Sorry. That was intended for a different group.
--
athel

pnyikos

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Nov 12, 2012, 8:32:12 PM11/12/12

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On Nov 12, 2:47ï¿½pm, Athel Cornish-Bowden <acorn...@imm.cnrs.fr> wrote:
> On 2012-11-12 06:49:14 +0000, Athel Cornish-Bowden said:
>

> > "I really donï¿½t give a damn where some politician or celebrity is

> > putting their penis" (P. Z. Myers today at Pharyngula).
>
> > It seems to me it would be safe to put "his" there.
>
> Sorry. That was intended for a different group.
> --
> athel

Don't apologize! PZ Myers is both famous and infamous in this
newsgroup, and ribbing about "double-take" comments like this is a
great pastime here.

Check out the thread with "Chez Watt" in the title and you'll see what
I mean.

Peter Nyikos

pnyikos

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Nov 13, 2012, 3:28:22 PM11/13/12

to nyi...@bellsouth.net

In the "politically correct pronouns" department:

> "I really don’t give a damn where some politician or celebrity is
> putting their penis"
>

> It seems to me it would be safe to put "his" there.

Peter Nyikos

Steven L.

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Nov 15, 2012, 4:33:58 PM11/15/12

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Counterexample:

Lorena Bobbitt got out of bed and went to the kitchen for a drink of
water. Grabbing the knife, Lorena Bobbitt entered the bedroom where John
was sleeping and proceeded to cut off nearly half of his penis.

After assaulting her husband, Lorena left the apartment with the severed
penis, drove a short while, then rolled down the car window and threw
the penis into a field.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_and_Lorena_Bobbitt

--
Steven L.

pnyikos

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Nov 15, 2012, 7:19:51 PM11/15/12

to nyi...@bellsouth.net

Clever. Lorena is a celebrity, or at least she had her moment of
fame.

More OT: I've read that John pressured Lorena to have an abortion
before the incident occurred.

Peter Nyikos

Burkhard

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Nov 16, 2012, 12:12:25 AM11/16/12

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Beat you to it, but your actual example works better than my abstract
notion of trophy keeping serial killer celebs : o)

Robert Carnegie: Fnord: cc talk-origins@moderators.isc.org

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Nov 16, 2012, 9:39:31 AM11/16/12

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I don't think this one works; legally it was still /his/ penis.

As I recall, and as Wikipedia says too, he got it back, somewhat
the worse for wear.

Arkalen

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Nov 23, 2012, 5:44:53 PM11/23/12

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Except for many transgendered women. Granted, if one of them was a major
politician I imagine the media would be less interested in where they
put their penis and more in whether they had one or not in the first
place. But as long as PZ doesn't give a damn...

Arkalen

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Nov 23, 2012, 5:51:26 PM11/23/12

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On 13/11/12 01:32, pnyikos wrote:

> On Nov 12, 2:47 pm, Athel Cornish-Bowden <acorn...@imm.cnrs.fr> wrote:
>> On 2012-11-12 06:49:14 +0000, Athel Cornish-Bowden said:
>>

>>> "I really don’t give a damn where some politician or celebrity is

>>> putting their penis" (P. Z. Myers today at Pharyngula).
>>
>>> It seems to me it would be safe to put "his" there.
>>
>> Sorry. That was intended for a different group.
>> --
>> athel
>
> Don't apologize! PZ Myers is both famous and infamous in this
> newsgroup, and ribbing about "double-take" comments like this is a
> great pastime here.
>
> Check out the thread with "Chez Watt" in the title and you'll see what
> I mean.
>
> Peter Nyikos
>

It just occurred to me that while I mentioned transgendered women for
thoroughness's sake, PZ happens to share a blog network with Natalie
Reed, who does have a penis
(http://freethoughtblogs.com/nataliereed/2012/10/25/personal-politics-of-srs/),
so he might actually have picked that phrasing on purpose.