Shim

Finally, Twitter has proved its usefulness. It's not that I care what you're having for breakfast or what mood you happen to be in right now. And it's not that we're all dying to find out what Congress is micro-blogging about when they should be listening to the president's speech. No, Twitter, in its own small way, apparently is advancing the age-old conversation about the English language's lack of a gender-neutral pronoun. Read this article on CNN.com to find out more.

One of the most prevalent and irksome grammar mistakes is the use of "they" when you really mean "he or she," as in: A doctor must care for their patient, or Everyone hates their in-laws. But the alternatives are only marginally better: Everyone hates his or her in-laws (how cumbersome); Everyone hates his in-laws (now you're sexist).

I doubt it will happen in my lifetime, but I yearn for the day when a functional, widely accepted set of gender-neutral pronouns will come to the rescue. What about "shim" as a nice alternative to "him or her"? Anyone have any gender-neutral pronoun suggestions?