- By Jim Evans
- Entertainment
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Smart Talk SMART TALK By Dr. Viva Palaver
SOMEONE THAT CARES: As staff psychologist at the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired, I find this a distant, cold phrase. It makes me want to scream.
Someone who cares, however, implies that a real human might be involved. Saying people that…, children that…, and even this woman that… is technically correct, but it makes all of us sound as if we’re cars or something. You don’t say, “I have a car who hardly runs,” do you? Of course not.
We’re not machines! Not yet. We’re persons, and we deserve personal pronouns. You may not know when to say whom, but please, at least say people who…, children who…, and this writer who… We need to speak as if we believed in our personhood.
Thank you.
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