User:Revolving Bugbear/pronouns

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If you've come to this page, you've either had a conversation with me, or are very bored. Either way, what you are about to read is the explanation of my use of pronouns. The long and short of it is that my use of pronouns is intended to be respectful and unassuming, and I am completely open to correction.

I believe that the indefinite masculine is proper formal English, and will often use it. That is, I believe that saying "Everyone should control himself" or "A person should be his own harshest critic" are proper and respectful English. I also believe that the indefinite feminine is proper English, but tend to use it less often because it is not what I was taught in school. I make no social or implicit distinction between the two.

I do not use the indefinite plural; that is, I will (for the most part) not say "That person should mind their own business". I recognize the intention behind it, and understand the desire to use it, but I'm a stickler for accurate language and thus dislike its use. I will sometimes use the indefinite ambiguous, for example, "A Wikipedian should strive to be the best editor he or she can". I don't use it often, and like I said, I draw no distinction between it and the above indefinite masculine / feminine above, but it will crop up from time to time.

If I have a particular concrete reason -- for example, a gendered username, or being told specifically -- to believe that an editor is of one particular gender or another, I will refer to a user by that gender's pronouns.

If I use the incorrect pronoun to refer to you, please correct me, and I will make a note of referring to you by the pronouns you prefer.

I will use alternative pronouns if asked, but only if asked. If you would like me to refer to you by an alternative pronoun set, simply let me know which set / combination of pronouns you prefer, and I will begin using them.

That's about all on that issue. If I make a mistake, please let me know, and please realize I mean no offense whatsoever.