c4bl3fl4m3:

cannada:

allthingslinguistic:

Next time someone complains about singular “they” I’ll point them to this 17th century rant against singular “you”.

Here’s the original book the screencap is from.

Can we talk about how that entire excerpt is only one sentence

Can we talk about how they had calling out in the 17th century?

I think some people ran their own printing presses just so they could publish callout pamphlets.

See Also – the Paper War of 1752-53, which involved Henry Fielding and others attacking each other viciously in newsprint, under pseudonyms like “The Inspector.”