On: Reports Coming in of Big IBM Layoffs Underway in the U.S.

[ams6110]

They also taught that "they" is plural in American schools up until the last decade or so.

I remember getting points off of papers for misusing "they" in a singular context.

So it sounds weird to me too. We were always taught that "he" is a gender-neutral singular as needed.

[dpark → ams6110]

When were you taught to use "he" as a gender neutral pronoun on English? I've never heard anyone in an educational position advocate that.

I was taught to use the horribly awkward "he or she" (his or hers, etc) or alternatively to restructure to actually refer to plural. e.g. Instead of "A software engineer should test his code" use "Software engineers should test their code".

I'm glad the "neutral they" is catching on.