The singular they, and coming to fruition

It's a pity our language lacks a singular pronoun that can refer equally well to a man or a woman. We end up saying "Whoever has a winning ticket can choose whatever they like from the prizes on the table" - because 'he or she' sounds clumsy - and there might even be someone present who will object "Why not she or he ?"

But when we are talking of persons auditioning for the part of Nancy in the musical 'Oliver', is it not safe to assume that the role will be given to a woman ? So ingrained is the use of the 'singular they' that an unthinking journalist on the staff of Radio Times wrote last year "One of the finalists for the part of Nancy sees their dream end as they are asked to leave the competition."

Here's another RT howler from the same issue: "Rageh Omar continues his investigation into whether fears about the dilution of British culture have come to fruition."

As so often, a journalist who doesn’t know the meaning of English words, but can’t resist what seems a good cliché, puts his metaphorical foot in it. Unless you’re something of a sadist, fears don’t come to fruition: 'fruition' means enjoyment, benefit. The Latin verb 'fruor' means to enjoy. Sweet, juicy apples are the enjoyment you get as a reward for all your hard work cultivating the orchard; so the very word 'fruit' is a metaphor of enjoyment. What may be the cause of the confusion is our almost instinctive use of 'fruit' as a metaphor for the results of something - after all, some ‘fruits’ are poisonous: negatively we might say "sinners will reap what they sow". But when we say "my efforts have been fruitful", we are (quite correctly) speaking positively of the enjoyment of success.

'Fruition' (from Latin noun fruitio from the verb fruor) is always positive; fears are always about something negative, so when they are 'realised' (ie 'come true’) or 'justified' (ie 'proved correct') they do not lead to fruition - only to disappointment, frustration or despair..

BBC’s Radio Times has in recent years become less and less careful in its language. Almost every week it publishes statements that are ungrammatical or plain stupid. We may forgive such errors in conversation or in interviews - even experts experience slips of the tongue. But it is not unreasonable to expect professional writers and editors to know the basics of their trade.

The singular they, and coming to fruition