An Inclusive Litany

8/6/92

In Elements of Nonsexist Usage, Val Dumond warns against using possessive terms such as "my significant other" or "my partner." "When two people marry," she writes, "one does not become the property of the other; one does not belong to the other. Likewise, two married people do not become one, implying two half-people. Two married people become two people sharing their lives."