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mk  ·  4456 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Problem with Plurals
It's nice to hear that English had some cases where no one can be correct.

Language is both a means for communication, and art. As such, I think grammar nazism is uncalled for when it's obvious that the writer is capable and knows what he/she is doing. Actually, in the above sentence, I'll often use 'they' instead of 'he/she', although I know it is incorrect. Personally, I think we should extend 'they' to cover 'he/she'.

A prof of mine related that he was once in a lecture by Feynman where a graduate student pointed out to Feynman that he had used α to designate two different variables in the same set of equations. To this Feynman replied: "Well, if you understand what I am talking about, it doesn't matter."