Editing Singular they (section)

====Strunk & White's ''The Elements of Style''====
[[William Strunk Jr.]] & [[E. B. White]], the original authors of ''[[The Elements of Style]]'', found use of ''they'' with a singular antecedent unacceptable and advised use of the singular pronoun (''he''). In the 3rd edition (1979), the recommendation was still:{{sfn|Strunk|White|1979|p=60}}

{{Blockquote|text='''They.''' Not to be used when the antecedent is a distributive expression, such as ''each'', ''each one''. ''everybody'', ''every one'', ''many a man''. Use the singular pronoun.&nbsp;... A similar fault is the use of the plural pronoun with the antecedent ''anybody'', ''anyone'', ''somebody'', ''someone''&nbsp;....}}

The assessment, in 1979, was that:{{sfn|Strunk|White|1979|p=60}}

{{Blockquote|text=The use of ''he'' as pronoun for nouns embracing both genders is a simple, practical convention rooted in the beginnings of the English language. ''He'' has lost all suggestion of maleness in these circumstances.&nbsp;... It has no pejorative connotation; it is never incorrect.}}

In the 4th edition (2000), use of singular ''they'' was still proscribed against, but use of generic ''he'' was no longer recommended.{{sfn|Strunk|White|2000 |p=60}}