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Says Who? Teaching and Questioning the Rules of Grammar

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2020

Anne Curzan
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Extract

One winter morning, the student scanning cards at the front desk of the university gym noticed the “faculty” label on mine and asked which department I was in. I replied that I teach in English. A middle-aged man who checked in behind me chased me down the hall. When he caught me, he exclaimed with frustration, “English, eh? Well, could you please get students to stop using plural pronouns when they need singular ones? Everyone—they, someone—they. It's just terrible English.”

Information

Type
The Changing Profession
Information
PMLA , Volume 124 , Issue 3 , May 2009 , pp. 870 - 879
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 2009

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References

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