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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Vocabulary

The whistleblower

"The whistleblower behind the Panama Papers broke their silence on Friday to explain in detail how the injustices of offshore tax havens drove them to the biggest data leak in history." (The Guardian.)

Is "The whistleblower" plural in such a context?
  

Top answer

No, it is a use of "singular they" to refer a person of unknown or unspecified ***. While "singular they" is widely used in certain informal contexts, for me this example grates.

— GPY

  • No, it is a use of "singular they" to refer a person of unknown or unspecified ***.
  • While "singular they" is widely used in certain informal contexts, for me this example grates.
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3 Answers
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No, it is a use of "singular they" to refer a person of unknown or unspecified ***. While "singular they" is widely used in certain informal contexts, for me this example grates.
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AnonymousIs "The whistleblower" plural in such a context?
No. It could be a typo. It should have an "s" on the end.

Alternately, and more probably, "their" singular is intended. It's unknown whether the whistleblower's silence should be "his" or "her" silence.

An unfortunate awkwardness, all in all.

CJ

cross-posted
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Thank you, GPY and CJ, for your replies.
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