Re: [PATCH 2/4] *: use singular they in comments

From: Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@gmail.com>
Date: Jun 7, 2021, 21:44 UTC
Message-ID: <60be93327f1db_db80d208d1@natae.notmuch>
In-Reply-To: <xmqqwnr5ts55.fsf@gitster.g>

Junio C Hamano wrote:

Show 17 quoted lines

> "Derrick Stolee via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail.com> writes:
> 
> > @@ -1178,7 +1178,7 @@ static void handle_signed_tag(struct commit *parent, struct commit_extra_header
> >  	/*
> >  	 * We could verify this signature and either omit the tag when
> >  	 * it does not validate, but the integrator may not have the
> > -	 * public key of the signer of the tag he is merging, while a
> > +	 * public key of the signer of the tag they are merging, while a
> >  	 * later auditor may have it while auditing, so let's not run
> >  	 * verify-signed-buffer here for now...
> >  	 *
> 
> This is not wrong per-se, but "the tag being merged" is something I
> would have written, as naive non-native English speakers would find
> it disturbing and ungrammatical that "the integrator" singular is
> matched with "singular" they, which goes opposite from what they
> were taught in their foreign language classes [*1*].

It's not just non-native English speakers. According to linguists the singular "they" only makes sense when the antecedent is plural (comes from a pool of people), in this case "the integrator" is semantically singular.

58% of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary would disagree with this usage [1].

> Perhaps offer a passive voice as a weaker alternative to the
> singular they in the guidelines patch?

Yes, "of the tag being merged" does read correctly to me, unlike the version above.

Cheers.

[1] https://ahdictionary.tumblr.com/post/147597257733/updated-usage-note-they

-- 
Felipe Contreras