Pronouns

[jack]

"When John was a woman, [he/she/they] said '...' " Which pronoun do you prefer? (That is, "he" is appropriate for John now, "she" would be appropriate for what John was then, and "they" would specify the ambiguity.)

"The things God or Jesus [was/were] recorded as saying are ..." Which pronoun do you prefer? (That is, do you treat them as two separate people (were)? Or one person (was)? :))

Obviously both are arbitrary, and I think both sufficiently specialised that most people wouldn't mind which you used, I just wondered if anyone had a strong opinion :)

Comments

[naath.livejournal.com]

But don't re-use the name like that it sounds all overly-chumy and sales-person (see, someone will take issue with *anything*). Nowt wrong with a singular 'they'.

[cornute.livejournal.com]

Somewhere, a transgendered grammarian is crying.

Yeah, I'd likely rephrase not to need the name or a pronoun either one. But then I'm a gamer and have a lot of experience referring to the person across the room from me playing that hot female character without saying "He's gone to take a leak, back in a minute."

I like the "they" too.