Any thoughts regarding the use of the pronoun "they" as a second reference to an inanimate object? For example: "The FAA suspected the batteries posed a danger to the safe operation of the aircraft, so THEY grounded the entire fleet." "They" instead of "it"? Really? I'm hearing this more and more in the news media. I know that people talk this way — I'll even include myself here — but I never expected to hear professional reporters use this construction.
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7This question appears to be off-topic because it looks like a peeve. Organisations can be referenced as singular or plural. – FumbleFingers Jan 05 '14 at 04:07
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1Seems like this is right stack for this topic! Maybe too vague but on topic. No? – dvdrtrgn Jan 05 '14 at 04:35
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2@dvdrtrgn Hardly. Either the original poster is unaware of our many questions covering how collective nouns like organizations can be both singular and plural, or else they are ignorant of our many questions dealing with they used as a generic or epicene or unknown or singular third-person pronoun. On either front, both topics are already extremely well-covered here, and this question adds nothing. It is a multi-duplicate and a peeve. – tchrist Jan 05 '14 at 05:15
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2I think the peeve ground is enough to not consider this question worthy of consideration. – virmaior Jan 05 '14 at 05:24
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1I see it as a definite duplicate. Sure this has been dealt with at least once before in extensive detail on these pages. – Kris Jan 05 '14 at 07:28
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possible duplicate of Are collective nouns always plural, or are certain ones singular? – choster Jan 05 '14 at 16:53
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Why isn't it marked as a duplicate or a peeve? "Off-topic" stretches the definition as it is known on the other stacks. – dvdrtrgn Jan 06 '14 at 22:05
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While some American prescriptivists recommend the use of the singular for groups of people, I don't think this recommendation has ever achieved the status of "grammatical rule".
In Britain, most authorities maintain that either form is acceptable, and the choice depends entirely on the mood one wishes to convey. For instance, it is customary to refer to a decision-making committee in the plural, because this emphasises that the committee takes collective responsibility for their decisions.
Pitarou
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