s/he or S/he if at the beginniong of a sentence.

[sqkcrk]

I heard a guy on the radio today who had tried to start a new word, but his English Prof shut him down when he used it, because it wasn't a word. The Prof wanted him to use "he/she" as a gender neutral term. He wanted to use "E". Capital E.

I immediately thought, why not s/he? Pronounced sh he. Seems like that would cover it. Wouldn't it? Two less letters to type.

And why is it always, from what I have seen, "he/she"? Is it because "h" comes before "s"? What about ladies first? Or is that no longer pc?

[bobber128]

I prefer the term s/him... pronounced shim.....

[sqkcrk]

Is it a real term? Does anybody else use it? Wouldn't people just think that you mistyped shim? Interesting suggestion though. I'll put it on the list.

[Swobee]

I suppose there are numberous terms in the dictionary that never used to be in it at all. Even slang can be found now days in the dictionary. Maybe you're just ahead of your time. Or is that y're

[sqkcrk]

Ya know what? These posts that elude to transgender persons is not why I brought this up and is not what this Thread is about and I find them offensive. To me and to persons that I know. Cut it out. Thank you.

[Michael Bush]

For a while back at the previous turn of the century, there was a push for "Thone" as a contraction for "the one" to be the universal pronoun for a person of unspecified gender... I think it's less awkwared then s/he and you can pronounce it! But it never caught on either and, imo, nither with s/he. Although it may not be grammatically perfect, I think "they" is what it will settle down as.

[dcross]

I vote for sha-hay-hay-hay, but you have to sing it like Rick James

[bigevilgrape]

It is grammatically correct to use the male pronouns when the gender is unclear or mixed. I'm not entirely sure why people get so bent out of shape about it since it flows so much better in written and spoken formats.

[Michael Bush]

Yes, "he" or it's equivelant/ is universal as far as gender in most languages as is "man" when used in a conext that is not intended to distinguish gender or refering to a particular person whose gender would be known. "Man", means human, where "woman" is more specific and means "human with a womb". This is true in most languages, but is no longer a popular view of language.