The revised 2005 test is on the ASA web site (http://www.softball.org) on the Umpires page. It is a PDF.

Enjoy!

AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!
 

I see the PC police have totally occupied ASA HQ.

<font size=8>"They" is not a gender-neutral singular pronoun!!!!</font>

There. I feel better.

You mean there are two of us, Dakota?

Re: AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!
 

Seems Merriam-Webster recognizes this, but demonstrates no problem with the usage as such.

2 : PEOPLE 2 -- used in a generic sense <as lazy as they come>
usage They used as an indefinite subject (sense 2) is sometimes objected to on the grounds that it does not have an antecedent. Not every pronoun requires an antecedent, however. The indefinite they is used in all varieties of contexts and is standard.
usage They, their, them, themselves: English lacks a common-gender third person singular pronoun that can be used to refer to indefinite pronouns (as everyone, anyone, someone). Writers and speakers have supplied this lack by using the plural pronouns <and every one to rest themselves betake -- Shakespeare> <I would have everybody marry if they can do it properly -- Jane Austen> <it is too hideous for anyone in their senses to buy -- W. H. Auden>. The plural pronouns have also been put to use as pronouns of indefinite number to refer to singular nouns that stand for many persons <'tis meet that some more audience than a mother, since nature makes them partial, should o'erhear the speech -- Shakespeare> <a person can't help their birth -- W. M. Thackeray> <no man goes to battle to be killed. -- But they do get killed -- G. B. Shaw>. The use of they, their, them, and themselves as pronouns of indefinite gender and indefinite number is well established in speech and writing, even in literary and formal contexts. This gives you the option of using the plural pronouns where you think they sound best, and of using the singular pronouns (as he, she, he or she, and their inflected forms) where you think they sound best.

Merriam-Webster is a well-known Communist front.

Oh, well. To each their own.

And there are college students that don't understand what a "Communist" was to people our age. :)

According to a college history professor I know, there are college students who don't know there was a World War II.

Shakespeare had poetic license. Last time I checked, ASA did not have a resident poet on staff.

"They" aren't using "they" because it sounds better - it sounds awful. "They" are using "they" because "they" live in fear of such professional busy-bodies as Martha Burk.

The only place the pronouns "he" or "she" is in the entire exam is in the intro, talking about umpires. And that is the combination "he/she".

Try and tell me this sounds betterthan thisNote also the construction "they deliver" as opposed to "delivers" - plural construction. Awful corruption of the language.

If "they" want to be PC, why not alternate the use of "he" and "she"?

As you can tell - one of my pet peeves. And a losing battle. Oh, well.

Please consider also that no-mothertongue people (like me) would be confused a little more by this.

I know it's ASA test, but I usually read questions on this forum and discuss them with my collegues here, in Italy.
Sometimes I make paste/copy and pass it to them who knows little english...
Till now I was quiet confused ONLY by typical USA acronyms-mania, but I have to add also Politically Correctness Mania!!

Greetings and thousands of thanks to ALL OF YOU from Italy

Antonella

Actually, who really gives a damn? Are the points communicated to the intended persons?

Do all of you people walk down the street correcting people's grammar?

ASL would drive you all crazy!

<b>Awful corruption of the language.</b>

Right on, bro.

I often deliberately use standard English purely to upset p.c. types, who unfortunately happen to proliferate in this area (Princeton, NJ).

<b>Do all of you people walk down the street correcting people's grammar?</b>

When walking down the street, no, but all day at a desk, yes. A lot of people give a damn and are willing to pay to ensure that the writing they submit (an academic thesis, a report to government, a business proposal) is correct in grammar and usage.

Unfortunately, I can't simply turn the machine off in everyday life. Every error I hear registers on my consciousness. But I stopped gratuitously giving advice after suffering a stab wound from a fork after correcting my mother-in-law (<i>memento,</i> not <i>momento</i>).

I do. Maybe. I find it very annoying and grating. And, hence, distracting. Like listening to a lecturer screech as he writes on a blackboard. Like listening to a teenager use "like" to be "pause" and "went" to mean "said." Like listening to a live concert with constant feedback through the sound system.Only my daughters'.If you mean American Sign Language, that is not English. Different language.

If you mean American Sign Language, that is not English. Different language. [/QUOTE]

Actually, it is an American English-based derivitive.

Does that sound right? I'm sure you will let me know :)

How about this:

The pitcher starts with the right foot in contact with the pitching plate, the left foot is considerably outside the pitching plate prior to the start of the pitch. As the pitch is delivered, the left foot must remain outside the pitching plate. This is a legal pitch.

Is this more clear and gets rid of any PC stuff??

<b>How about this:

The pitcher starts with the right foot in contact with the pitching plate, the left foot is considerably outside the pitching plate prior to the start of the pitch. As the pitch is delivered, the left foot must remain outside the pitching plate. This is a legal pitch.

Is this more clear and gets rid of any PC stuff??</b>

This trick does work here. Good thinking. Not really any difference in clarity. Unfortunately, however, the device of using "the" to get around a possessive pronoun doesn't work well in most contexts.

But I look at it this way: you could change everything in the language to suit the current demands of the p.c. police, and tomorrow they would find more things to complain about. I wonder whether I will live to see the word <i>goodbye</i> become a no-no, since when the p.c. police learn what it means, they will claim that it is offensive to atheists. After, all most of say this contraction of <i>God be with ye</i> several times a day.

Already some kid lodged a complaint with her school because her teacher said, "Bless you," after the kid sneezed.


[Edited by greymule on Feb 14th, 2005 at 11:21 PM]

Actually, American Sign Language is an unique language with no connections to English whatsoever. Its roots are in French Sign Language, which doesn't even resemble spoken French.

However, Mike, you are right, ASL can be confusing because it's grammatical rules are totally different from English. My students in the interpreter training program that I teach ASL in struggle with trying to figure out the grammatical rules of both ASL AND English.

I can't read this at all and get past "as they deliver (plural verb) and steps (singular verb - same subject)". Sounds like something my 1st grader would be embarrassed to turn in.

mcrowder,

Would you imagine getting a paper like that from a community college student? Just after I posted my earlier post, I got into grading some papers from my Deaf Culture class that I teach and got a headache that I normally only get when I read the ASA rulebook!!!!

If I got a paper from a college student like this, THEY would GETS a bad grade.

Heck, I go "tilt" well before that: "their right foot"???

A communal right foot?
A three-legged race?

Choose one: "their right feet" or "his/her right foot"

Is there an answer sheet also on the web or available for downloading /emailing?

[Edited by wadeintothem on Feb 18th, 2005 at 01:24 AM]

You're kidding, right?

I dont know why you would ask if I am kidding unless you think I am asking for the answers. I was wondering if the bubble form you write the answers on to submit to your UIC is available. I never downloaded the test before, I always get it from my UIC and he gives an answer sheet to put the answers on.

The blank answer sheets are still available from your UIC, as they have always been previously. The test is downloadable this year because the tests sent to the UIC's (as always doen previously) had some major printing errors; someone accidently replaced questions 51-100 with the 2004 questions. Rather than the time lag and expense in reprinting and redistributing, it was decided the most efficient method of distribution would be to make it available on the website.

You should still get your new rulebook, bat ring, and answer sheet, as in previous years, from your UIC.

In Mike's defense, I am sure he thought you meant a completed answer sheet, as was requested a while back for the Fed test. Everyone pretty much took that to task; if you were asking the same question for ASA ...........

OK - thanks.