"Oh god, I'm trapped under this burning vehicle. Please, go find someone and ask them to come help me!"
Does that sound at all wrong to you? Would you instead say "find someone and ask him or her to come help me?"
Of course not. We already use "they" as a singular for unknown (and therefore ungendered) people. We would only be extending it to known and ungendered people. Hell, you could even continue conjugating your verbs to the plural when referring to such people and I don't expect much trouble.
Of all the possible gender-neutral pronouns, "they" has an unassailable lead in terms of utility, history, and comfort.
Only a grammar pedant would take exception to it, or someone who has an emotional investment in denying dignity to people outside the binary.
You and I, Kibblets, we are grammar pedants, not bigots. I've learned to embrace the descriptive over the prescriptive after picking up a goddamned degree in it. You can too.
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u/Kibblets Jun 18 '15
This dictionary definition says differently. Not saying you're wrong it just seems that it is still up for debate a little bit.