Still not enough. There's people who don't identify with either gender, are intersex, etc.

An accommodation for 99% is reasonable. Expecting additional accommodation without specifically asking for it is unreasonable.

That's a good approach. Where I differ from Cody's strict interpretation is if you are talking about an actual person, it's best to ask if you can, or rewrite to avoid the issue. "Maybe he or she is a geologist"

Still not enough. There's people who don't identify with either gender, are intersex, etc.

You are correct, Cody, but most newer style guides at least mention that it is perceived by many readers as sexist and because of this suggest you rewrite the sentence to avoid the issue. It rarely comes up in my professional writing, and there are cases where I think it's a tough call. The awkwardness of writing around it is more disruptive than using the masculine pronoun, but then it's a case of pick your poison. Which readers are you willing to lose?

Heh, this is actually something I've struggled with many times, especially when I post community-created content to the DBO front page (or Twitter feed) and don't know the gender behind the user name. Sometimes a Twitter bio or DeviantArt profile will reveal the gender, but I never assume unless it's blindingly obvious.

I usually just rewrite the sentence to eliminate pronouns and call it a day. :P

That's a good approach. Where I differ from Cody's strict interpretation is if you are talking about an actual person, it's best to ask if you can, or rewrite to avoid the issue. "Maybe he or she is a geologist" would have been easy enough to type or read. The usage I was kind of/sort of defending was when you're referring to a hypothetical individual. It was a loss for elegance when using "he" was deemed problematic.

Regarding he/him/his as the gender neutral terms suggests masculine pronouns are the default or standard and that should not be the case. I certainly don't appreciate it when people assume I'm a guy and use masculine pronouns when I join an online community where you can not display your gender in some way, and I know many ladies and queer or non-binary people don't appreciate it either.

It doesn't assume you are a guy. Technically, you are supposed to use "he" or "him" if the gender is unknown in the english language and you are referring to a singular person. It's not done out of insensitivity, just protocol. You can be unhappy about this, but that is what's proper linguistically.

Yeah, I find that language can actually have a lot embedded in it. A wise man once said to me reasons not rules make us strong.

You are correct, Cody, but most newer style guides at least mention that it is perceived by many readers as sexist and because of this suggest you rewrite the sentence to avoid the issue. It rarely comes up in my professional writing, and there are cases where I think it's a tough call. The awkwardness of writing around it is more disruptive than using the masculine pronoun, but then it's a case of pick your poison. Which readers are you willing to lose?

Heh, this is actually something I've struggled with many times, especially when I post community-created content to the DBO front page (or Twitter feed) and don't know the gender behind the user name. Sometimes a Twitter bio or DeviantArt profile will reveal the gender, but I never assume unless it's blindingly obvious.

I usually just rewrite the sentence to eliminate pronouns and call it a day. :P

Also I was on the winning ODST Challenge team.

Old news, bro. Old news.

Shhh. Come on man, that was the highlight of his life. Don't take that away from him.

Except we totally did...

Looking forward to meeting new people and really getting into Destiny! Already loving what I have played through so far!

Happy to be here!

With all the language talk I did not welcome you. Welcome!

Jessie's Girl rocks, BTW.

Where the hell did I even get Rick Springfield? Hahaha.

Your hilarious brain.

Also I was on the winning ODST Challenge team.

Old news, bro. Old news.

Jessie's Girl rocks, BTW.

Where the hell did I even get Rick Springfield? Hahaha.

Regarding he/him/his as the gender neutral terms suggests masculine pronouns are the default or standard and that should not be the case. I certainly don't appreciate it when people assume I'm a guy and use masculine pronouns when I join an online community where you can not display your gender in some way, and I know many ladies and queer or non-binary people don't appreciate it either.

It doesn't assume you are a guy. Technically, you are supposed to use "he" or "him" if the gender is unknown in the english language and you are referring to a singular person. It's not done out of insensitivity, just protocol. You can be unhappy about this, but that is what's proper linguistically.

Protocol is for suckers. What are you, French?

But more seriously, happy to sacrifice proper linguistics in this case.

I went to Ohio.
I met a bunch of people I hate.
We played Halo.
I killed everyone and won all the stuff.
The food was terrible.

The End.

well now I don't feel so bad about missing it

You just plagiarized my write-up of your LAN!

I went to Indiana.
I met a bunch of people I didn't know and someone they hate named korny.
He played Black Ops.
I killed the host and won all his prizes.
The cookies were awesome
The smells were awful.
"Yes Mom, I can talk."

The End.

I laughed, fairly hard, and I'll apologize again (but also say again someone could've just said "shh")

Also, Kermit and uberfoop said what I was going to say, and meant to say for a while, probably better than I could've. I'll add in that written language rules are slow to change and tend to go with whoever holds the most power (not so much the formal written vocabulary, the list of words in the Oxford English Dictionary is bewilderingly neophytic) and for the English language those people have traditionally been European-descended heterosexual men (who had no outwards doubts or qualms about their sex or gender), but grammar? That takes ages to change, officially.

It doesn't assume you are a guy. Technically, you are supposed to use "he" or "him" if the gender is unknown in the english language and you are referring to a singular person. It's not done out of insensitivity, just protocol. You can be unhappy about this, but that is what's proper linguistically.

Language is a fluid thing.

For a couple of centuries, some scholars prescribed "he" for unknown gender. It's hardly "the" standard use right now, though.

And if anyone wants to be a stickler about historical precedent, "they" has been used as a singular pronoun for as long as Modern English has existed.