> so don't be dissin me for my diction.
Actually, I wouldn't dream of doing that --- I was just anticipating
somebody throwing down the guantlet on this. As long as somebody
doesn't make the claim that failing to use the "new pronouns" is in some
way misogynistic or anti-feminist, we'll all be cool. :-)
On a linguistic purist note, though, natural language evolution always
trends towards disambiguating, not the other way around. For a taste of
how confusing trying to use the neutral pronouns can be, try writing a
little skit involving two unnamed people, one male and one female, who
are having a dialogue.
Forced or "rationalized" language evolution has always smacked to me of
quasi-French cultural elitism.
jb