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Moreover, I hope [the singular
they] doesn't become commonly used. It's already hard enough in English to determine context from our overloaded pronouns. There has to be a better way to handle gender issues in print than making the word "they" even more vague than it already is.
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I'm with you on that. I never use the singular
they and I cringe when other people do. But it is widespread enough now that I don't think it can justly be called an error.
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I really don't plan to go through the book again looking for more or better examples because it takes me a lot of time to read that carefully, and I don't think it's that important.
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I agree with you there as well: it's not that important. It's just that "don't begin a sentence with 'but'" is one of the canards (Fowler called it a superstition) I hate seeing repeated. You will not find a single style manual or usage dictionary that condemns starting a sentence with 'but' -- they are unanimously in favor of the practice.
Other superstitions I hate seeing repeated:
- Never end a sentence with a preposition.
- Never split an infinitive.
Good list here (with references).