[continued from previous message]   
      
   > > Hamlet : In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses "them" to refer to "mother": "'Tis   
   meet that some more audience than a mother ? Since nature makes them partial ?   
   should o'erhear the speech". "Them" is used here to refer to "mother" as a   
   general type of person,    
   not a specific individual.   
   > > Literary device: Writers have used the singular "they" to conceal gender   
   or to make a point about gender roles. In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare   
   uses "they" in the line, "To strange sores, strangely they straine the cure,"   
   where "they" is a    
   singular pronoun for a general concept or condition.   
   > >   
   > > HTH   
   > >   
   >   
   > well i dont want to argue with shekspear, he had a lot of free   
   > time. but yea they/them can refer to singular, its kinda similar   
   > in japanese.. but it has more to do with context and lack of   
   > plural use.   
      
   YEA! What he said.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)