"Annabel Smyth" wrote in message
...

As may be, but I'm no spring chicken, and I well remember using the
"indeterminate they" when I was at school. Normally along the lines of
"Is anybody sitting there?" "Yes, they are!" (meaning the seat was
reserved). In vain did the school staff point out that "She is" would
be more correct than "they are"......

Surely the reply should be "Yes, somebody is". In Yorkshire, it would be
"'appen".
--
Terry Harper, Web Co-ordinator, The Omnibus Society
75th Anniversary 2004, see http://www.omnibussoc.org/75th.htm
E-mail:
URL: http://www.terry.harper.btinternet.co.uk/