F. Alfredo Rego wrote on Friday, September 03, 2004 4:55 AM:

> As an example of my ignorance, I acknowledge that I am confounded
> by Wirt's sentence:
>
>    "Saying this allows one to avoid tooting their own horn."
>
>
> I assume that "one" refers to the (SINGULAR) person doing the
> writing.
>
> So far, so good, and I truly believe that "I got it".  My problems
> start with "their".
>
> Does "their" refer to "our English cousins" (the only possible PLURAL
> backreference)?  Am I missing some other obvious plural entity?  Do I
> need to have my eyes checked?  Do I need to take a quickie course in
> remedial English?
>

In the provincial English that we speak here in Canada we often use they,
them, or their when referring to a single person of indeterminate sex to
avoid default sex assumptions such as "Saying this allows one to avoid
tooting his own horn" or ungainly alternatives such as "Saying this allows
one to avoid tooting his or her own horn".

Bruce.

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