The article points out that Chaucer used "they" to refer to singular unknown person, so the usage is very old. It seems more respectful than assuming they are male.
replyI find myself wrong all the time, and I'm glad for the lesson!
Leaning on Chaucer isn't sufficient, because it was once a pronoun used for people:
replyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_(pronoun)
So maybe we should bring back it, or ignore Chaucer as an authority.
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reply"They" has always (in our lifetimes) been used to refer to a singular person of unknown gender. For example "someone left their coat here. They must be cold"
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