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List:       kde-bugs-dist
Subject:    [Bug 92476] New: typo - grammar problem in "away" notification
From:       Timothy Lord <timothylord () gmail ! com>
Date:       2004-10-31 18:46:03
Message-ID: 20041031194559.92476.timothylord () gmail ! com
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http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=92476        
           Summary: typo - grammar problem in "away" notification
           Product: kopete
           Version: unspecified
          Platform: unspecified
        OS/Version: Linux
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Severity: wishlist
          Priority: NOR
         Component: general
        AssignedTo: kopete-devel kde org
        ReportedBy: timothylord gmail com


Version:           0.8.4 (using KDE 3.3.0,  (3.1))
Compiler:          gcc version 3.3.4 (Debian 1:3.3.4-12)
OS:                Linux (i686) release 2.4.26

If you met a couple pushing their infant baby in a stroller in a park, and wanted to \
remark on the baby's pulchritude, you would not (at least in conventional English) \
refer to the baby in the plural just because you do not know its sex. To call a baby \
by the plural would imply that there are multiple babies, and your compliments would \
have to be phrased in the plural as well. "Perhaps they will grow up to be models!" \
Now the reason I bring this up ...

When a user changes status (available / away)in Kopete, the message generated uses \
the possessive pronoun "their," as in "Tiurin42 has changed their status to Away."

Rather than "their," I hope you will consider using "his" (or even "his or her") \
rather than "their," or recasting the message so that the awkward pronoun use is \
politely avoided. (The "now online" message that just popped up for me reads \
"Tiurin42 is now Online!" - why not make the Away message similarly straightforward? \
"Tiurin42 is Away," for instance.)

Using "their" because the sex of the user is not known is common (especially on the \
Internet) but is awkward, misleading and (though grammar is a matter of convention, \
it does *have* conventions) not grammatically correct, at least according to Strunk & \
White, Chicago Manual of Style, AP style, etc. 

Cheers, and thanks for the excellent Kopete -- and extra thanks for changing the \
"send" command to plain-old Enter rather than Control+Enter.

timothy


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