Pronouns in writing

[MillieDynamite]

I missed that part of the discussion. I looked it up and was wrong about how I spelled it. I make a lot of spelling errors, but usually catch them after the fact. Not that one, though.

It's not clear to me what it is, but @DeMont seemed to recognize a distinction, up in #42.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Sumtimes, spellin' jus ta'int pertent.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

And it can be quite weird when a side comment gets a thread all wonky.

 

[MillieDynamite]

 

[DeMont]

Nary/nairy a one isn't particularly archaic in British English. Somewhat old-fashioned, maybe. I suppose Americans who merge the Mary/marry vowels would use 'narry' the same way.

Old joke: What's the difference between Prince William (Charles, last time I saw this one), a bald man, an orphan and an orang-utan?

William is the Heir Apparent.
A bald man has no hair apparent.
An ape has a hairy parent
An orphan has nary a parent.

Thank you, thank you...

@Kumquatqueen I know, I know, we've been a great audience, you've been awesome and you'll be here all week right?

 

[DeMont]

It should be nary. My bad, all day, every day.

My dear @MillieDynamite and @Britva415,
Neither is wrong and neither misspelled, it is simply derivative of the English dialect from different countries. I was fortunate enough to have spent a semester studying under a Canadian exchange Professor and he was HEAVILY enamoured with John Steinbeck, the Canadian author (Grapes of Wrath et al.) Y'all better believe we had some in depth discussions about English/English, vs. American/English vs Canadian-American-French/English. Let's just say I was enlightened. After all, "y'all say tohmahto, I say Tohmayto..., No?
Respects,
D.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I say taters and maters.

My dear @MillieDynamite and @Britva415,
Neither is wrong and neither misspelled, it is simply derivative of the English dialect from different countries. I was fortunate enough to have spent a semester studying under a Canadian exchange Professor and he was HEAVILY enamoured with John Steinbeck, the Canadian author (Grapes of Wrath et al.) Y'all better believe we had some in depth discussions about English/English, vs. American/English vs Canadian-American-French/English. Let's just say I was enlightened. After all, "y'all say tohmahto, I say Tohmayto..., No?
Respects,
D.

 

[Britva415]

My dear @MillieDynamite and @Britva415,
Neither is wrong and neither misspelled, it is simply derivative of the English dialect from different countries. I was fortunate enough to have spent a semester studying under a Canadian exchange Professor and he was HEAVILY enamoured with John Steinbeck, the Canadian author (Grapes of Wrath et al.) Y'all better believe we had some in depth discussions about English/English, vs. American/English vs Canadian-American-French/English. Let's just say I was enlightened. After all, "y'all say tohmahto, I say Tohmayto..., No?
Respects,
D.

I see. It seemed to me like you were distinguishing lexically between the words "nary" (the original) and "narry" (the derivative) in #42:

The English, in certain modern regional dialects, (such as my first wife's father from Northern England) still employ 'Nary' meaning "not any" or "not one". The most common phrase of his usage was 'nary a' when he was referring to particular thing, e.g. 'nary a one', meaning he hadn't seen something. It is, no doubt, an archaic term and likely led to the term "narry" you are discussing.

As if "nary" and "narry" were lexically different in some way.

It didn't seem to me that they are. So thanks for confirming.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Weird how a single goofy off-topic comment meant almost in jest can derail a thread.

 

[SimonDoom]

My dear @MillieDynamite and @Britva415,
Neither is wrong and neither misspelled, it is simply derivative of the English dialect from different countries. I was fortunate enough to have spent a semester studying under a Canadian exchange Professor and he was HEAVILY enamoured with John Steinbeck, the Canadian author (Grapes of Wrath et al.)
D.

Canadian? Steinbeck was born and raised in Salinas, California, and most of his stories are set in California.

 

[DeMont]

Canadian? Steinbeck was born and raised in Salinas, California, and most of his stories are set in California.

@SimonDoom,
My apologies, I seem to have confused things. You are, of course, absolutely correct. I meant that my English Lit professor was Canadian and deeply entranced in Steinbeck's works.
Respectfully,
D.

 

[DeMont]

Weird how a single goofy off-topic comment meant almost in jest can derail a thread.

@Five_Inch_Heels Ahem, my apologies. Sincerely. Okay, everyone settle down please, where were we...? Ahhh, yes, Pronouns in writing, when does he become she and vice versa?
Thank you.
Deepest respects,
D.

 

[MillieDynamite]

This is a very Ferris Bueller type point. My adoptive father's father had a brother, who was married to a woman whose father was, at one time, the poet laureate of Canada. There was another point, but I've forgotten it now that I've typed the first sentence.

@SimonDoom,
My apologies, I seem to have confused things. You are, of course, absolutely correct. I meant that my English Lit professor was Canadian and deeply entranced in Steinbeck's works.
Respectfully,
D.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

It's simple... I ain't doing all that. My stories have men and women in them.

 

[LegendInMyOwnMind]

In my writings, whether erotic or not, a generic human being, or a human of unknown or ambiguous gender who hasn't declared a pronoun preference, is called "they".

"They" construed as singular has a very long history, almost as long as "you" (a plural word grammatically) construed as singular, is perfectly gender-neutral, not depersonalizing like "it", and "they" sounds perfectly natural.

Grammarly recommends this usage.

 

[ColtonWrites]

I have one completed story set in the future featuring a trans man and a cis woman, but there are a number of other characters (he, she, and they). I dealt with the pronoun issue by quite literally just making name tags with pronouns something everyone was wearing. It's just part of the culture in the story.
I'm in the middle of a sci-fi story that's not erotica (there's a small romance subplot but it's with an alien I literally described once as a "sentient puddle" so they can't/don't "have sex" per se). The main character is a "he" but the rest of the non-human characters are "it" throughout. Except for the one that's a swarm. That one is a "they".

I write almost exclusively in first-person limited POV, so the MC's pronouns are whatever they say.

 

[PennyThompson]

My adoptive father's father had a brother, who was married to a woman whose father was, at one time, the poet laureate of Canada. There was another point, but I've forgotten it now that I've typed the first sentence.

 

[YmaOHyd]

View attachment 2578116

 

[MillieDynamite]

That makes us not related and five times removed from anyone who mattered a whit in our respective families.

View attachment 2578116

 

[MillieDynamite]

@PennyThompson, Mine is especially bad, as I'm adopted and in my real family; there weren't many people who ever amounted to much.

 

[Djmac1031]

During the writing when, and how, does the pronoun change from he to she? Or, she to he? Or, does it?

You could always just use "they." Maybe this creature identifies as both. Or neither.

 

[nice90sguy]

Man playing God

Note: Man

Best book about womb envy since The Book of Genesis.

As Bramble's post above reminds us, Frankestein was a hot, perfect-looking guy. Typically, the whole damn point of the story was lost on Hollywood.