WWYD? Teacher using "themself" on the homework page.

[LWatson]

are you serious? This just seems so petty. I mean come on. Teachers are human beings too and they do make mistakes. But "themself" is not incorrect. Maybe not 100% accepted but not incorrect.

It is incorrect. Them is plural, and self is singular. Correct term would be themselves or himself/herself. Even quoting your response my spell check has it underlined in red.

 

[rt2dz]

If it really bugs you, I'd try and bring it up in some way casually. I have a huge pet peeve with the word "a" (not the letter). It drives me nuts when people pronounce it like the letter--long a. The word is supposed to be pronounced short a, to rhyme with duh.

They pounded that in our heads in early elementary school. In high school, we moved south and all I heard was long a. When I started college, I loved those professors (I have two communications degrees, so lots of speech classes) that would correct all those long a students and deduct from their grades every time it was mispronounced. Common usage does not equal correct.

Anyhow, when DS#1 started school, he had a teacher who was teaching the class to pronounce to long a in reading classes. I would jump on DS when he did his reading at home. At the parent-teacher conference, the teacher brought up that he is so well-behaved and a rule follower. I casually mentioned the pronunciation thing (how proud I am that he is learning correctly) and we talked about the right v. casual and all my experiences. I think she did try to make an effort from there to pronounce it correctly herself, although she didn't correct other students—at least not that year. I was in that class room a lot volunteering.

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

If it really bugs you, I'd try and bring it up in some way casually. I have a huge pet peeve with the word "a" (not the letter). It drives me nuts when people pronounce it like the letter--long a. The word is supposed to be pronounced short a, to rhyme with duh.

If you really want to get technical, that is not a short "a" sound. When a vowel makes the "uh" sound, it is called a schwa.

 

[rt2dz]

If you really want to get technical, that is not a short "a" sound. When a vowel makes the "uh" sound, it is called a schwa.

No, I wasn't trying to be technical, but if you want to be that's fine. The point not being in the fact of what was being done wrong, but simply a teacher was teaching incorrectly and it drove me nuts. I did bring up, but I did so in a manner that wasn't offensive to the teacher and she actually made an effort to improve. It's never a matter of what you say, but how you say it. That's why some people get so upset over simple things that don't mean anything on message boards--the how is removed.

 

[rgf207]

It is incorrect. Them is plural, and self is singular. Correct term would be themselves or himself/herself. Even quoting your response my spell check has it underlined in red.

regardless, it's still not something one needs to call a teacher about.

 

[princessmom29]

regardless, it's still not something one needs to call a teacher about.

exactly. I asked the IB english teacher at school today and she said it is becoming more and more common to see it, and while still not accepted in a formal written paper like a thesis, it is being more and more accepted in casual writing, and will probably end up as part of formal language again. It was a common, accepted word in formal usage in the 16th and 17th centuries, but has since cycled out of favor. It may be on its way back.

 

[brekin67]

I would not say anything to her. I don't like french fry's.

 

[PaddingtonBear]

And just to clarify, "themself" is NEVER acceptable in why we call "Standard English." Never ever.

HI- I'm sure you know this, but I believe you meant that themself is NEVER acceptable in what we call "Standard English." Not why, what.
I think you might want to edit your post so that your writing is up to par as an English professor.

OP- I wouldn't call the teacher out on it. I've always felt that people who point out one other gramatical errors are somewhat douche-y.

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

No, I wasn't trying to be technical, but if you want to be that's fine. The point not being in the fact of what was being done wrong, but simply a teacher was teaching incorrectly and it drove me nuts. I did bring up, but I did so in a manner that wasn't offensive to the teacher and she actually made an effort to improve. It's never a matter of what you say, but how you say it. That's why some people get so upset over simple things that don't mean anything on message boards--the how is removed.

I wasn't trying to be ugly. I would say, however, if you felt that you needed to point out to the teacher, even in a roundabout way, that she was saying "a" wrong, I don't think you should be offended if I tell you that it is called a schwa.

 

[Tam1067]

HI- I'm sure you know this, but I believe you meant that themself is NEVER acceptable in what we call "Standard English." Not why, what.
I think you might want to edit your post so that your writing is up to par as an English professor.

OP- I wouldn't call the teacher out on it. I've always felt that people who point out one other gramatical errors are somewhat douche-y.

Yeah, typing on an iPhone is tricky--sorry for that--but then the editing function doesn't work well on that either (honest). This teacher did it twice, so she's got what we call a knowledge error which means she seems not to know the correct way to write. It's not a process error like a typo. There is a difference, and it's not acceptable for an English teacher of any level to give incorrect information to her students.

But no matter what, "themself" is not acceptable, and an English teacher shouldn't use it, and she's as wrong to use it as she would be if she made an error calculating something in math.

 

[Miss LD]

I think that's a really, really minor issue.
Part of my job is writing intranet stories for my office. It drives me INSANE when people call me or e-mail me to let me know minor editorial mistakes. As much as I always say I appreciate the correction, I don't.
If it affects the story, sure. But, I really and truly feel like certain people just read my stories to point out the errors.
I know that's part of my job and it is okay, but to me it would be a minor point to bring up with a teacher - even an English teacher.

 

[PaddingtonBear]

I heard a PhD from Tufts on NPR tonight say "themselves" twice.

Regardless of whether "themselves" is correct usage or not, pointing out your child's teacher's error is both ill-mannered and unwise. No matter how politely that teacher smiles and thanks you for pointing out her error, she'll be doing so through gritted teeth. There is nothing to be gained for your child and much good-will to be lost.

 

[Brancaneve]

My peeve: "mass exodus". "Exodus" by definition is the movement of people enmasse.

DH's English teacher's pet peeve: "first annual <insert event here>" It really isn't an annual event until it has occured at least twice. The proper term would be "inaugural <insert event here>".

I think we all have "those" words or phrases that just bug us.

Yes, mass exodus isn't a "new inovation."
Being a teacher myself, I can say that we do make mistakes. However, I have noticed that in certain areas of my state, or even the country, grammatical mistakes become, "normal." For example, I hear many people say, "have went", instead of, "have gone." That has become a perfectly normal, correct thing to say. Or, "I seen" instead of "I have seen." Perhaps the teacher associates with people who use "themself" so commonly that she has picked it up and thinks it's normal. Does that makes sense? But wait for 1 or 2 more errors and then kindly bring it up.

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

As a writer, I'm always getting edited, so I've got a pretty thick skin about corrections. But when I go on public forums, I'm paranoid about making typos or grammatical errors because I wonder how a typo/slip-up will come back to haunt me professionally.

"Themself" would bother me, almost as much as "theirself" does. Personally, though, I probably wouldn't bring it up to a teacher. She was probably going a hundred miles an hour doing twenty different things. If, however, a teacher incorrectly marked my kid's paper because of the teacher's misunderstanding, that would bother me.

 

[jessica52877]

I am surprised at this. I am not sure I have ever even heard the word themself. I'll be watching out for it though.

My son's teacher made labels for all the kids folders and his said Dallas's folder. She did correct it with white out but I know I would have said something if not. What would be the point of teaching my son something wrong. I do understand it isn't exactly a common issue but for him it will be something written more often then not.

 

[Disneynut5]

I would tell your child to bring it up to the teacher in class. Let him/her ask tell the teacher that they saw it and they wanted to know if that was the correct usage. See what answer your child gets. I believe that this is the correct thing to do in the spirit of learning. If the teacher says that it is correct, then I would call and speak with her.

I am horrified by poor grammar. We need to point these things out to our children or they will not learn. I also agree that "themself" is NEVER correct!

 

[Schmeck]

I think that's a really, really minor issue.
Part of my job is writing intranet stories for my office. It drives me INSANE when people call me or e-mail me to let me know minor editorial mistakes. As much as I always say I appreciate the correction, I don't.
If it affects the story, sure. But, I really and truly feel like certain people just read my stories to point out the errors.
I know that's part of my job and it is okay, but to me it would be a minor point to bring up with a teacher - even an English teacher.

Your job is to be professional, and to produce mistake-free work. I think that you should consider yourself blessed that your co-workers help you correct your mistakes, instead of being hauled into your supervisor's office to be told that your sloppiness has gotten you fired.

 

[Schmeck]

I think that's a really, really minor issue.
Part of my job is writing intranet stories for my office. It drives me INSANE when people call me or e-mail me to let me know minor editorial mistakes. As much as I always say I appreciate the correction, I don't.
If it affects the story, sure. But, I really and truly feel like certain people just read my stories to point out the errors.
I know that's part of my job and it is okay, but to me it would be a minor point to bring up with a teacher - even an English teacher.

Your job is to be professional, and to produce mistake-free work. I think that you should consider yourself blessed that your co-workers help you correct your mistakes, instead of being hauled into your supervisor's office to be told that your sloppiness has gotten you fired.

 

[Hockey Mom KQ]

WOW! I am shocked. I am a teacher, and this kind of discussion really bothers me. It is very difficult to have every word you say, or write analyzed and judged. I really didn't think parents did this. I wonder what your child is thinking about this teacher after all of this discussion. My concern would be giving my child a slanted view of his or her new teacher, and not an open mind.

 

[TwinsinCA]

WOW! I am shocked. I am a teacher, and this kind of discussion really bothers me. It is very difficult to have every word you say, or write analized and judged. I really didn't think parents did this.

Well, some of us do. It isn't comforting to know that the person teaching your child proper grammar/spelling/ etc. is making simple mistakes. The only time I have ever said anything to my daughters' teacher about the issue was when I noticed a mistake on a paper that was about to be copied and sent home. I assumed she'd want it fixed before it went out. Otherwise, I leave it alone. But we DO notice.

Our school has a website and each teacher has a page for their classroom. Every so often I look around to see what is going on in other classes. I saw one third grade teacher write out "nineth" and another use the word "Kindergarden". Before my daughters started 4th grade I looked at the pages of their potential teachers. One used "there" when it should have been "their". And another addressed the parents and students as "parent's and student's". I understand typos happen. But why can't/don't they proofread before putting something like that online? The first two mistakes I mentioned were in these teachers' introductions for the incoming class. That doesn't leave a great first impression.

I am a horrible speller and my grammar needs help. But I would hope the people teaching my kids have a handle on those things.