Hell, before that. Samson and Delilah, Lillith to some degree, others elsewhere.

Precisely. Button eyes and only malevolent intent behind that too-happy smile.

I read and write a lot of fantasy/sci-fi. my first thought upon considering the photo above was huh, I guess I can see that, jeans on the outside and sweats on the inside—wait, what? Why is the model's belly button so noticeably white? Perhaps she's also cotton-y on the inside (cue my horror/interest).

S/he is different from she/he. She/he sets up a false binary. And they is plural (although I think it's important and completely understood when you use it to avoid offending or excluding particular members of your audience). We could always go back to the Old English roots of they if we wanted to resolve the…

Yeah, I understand that. Unfortunately, when it comes to writing IT docs for a non-technical audience, I often have to (for lack of a better word) dumb-down the wording. Introducing any word they aren't familiar with (including the gender-neutral ones above), even when that word is defined in the doc, typically is met…

I use "s/he" in my technical documents. I haven't gotten any feedback, negative or positive, but I occasionally (depending on the audience) wonder if my small contribution has made an impact.

It's perfect because, should the wrong ears overhear, they can assume that you're just really dedicated to increasing dividends at the company when you say you're looking for big delta.

I don't care if people think he's alpha, beta, or gamma, so long as I'm getting that sweet, sweet delta.

I'm pretty sure it would cost, like, your entire (present) family dying violently in a betrayal. Damned Freys.

My superpowers entail migraine cycles that last seemingly forever and come and go for no particular reason. After a certain point, this doesn't contribute to my pain tolerance, but rather my endurance. I call it My Dark Passenger (like Dexter).

Madam :-) PS kidney stones sound horrific and you have my sympathy as well as my snarky remarks.

Hey now, it's not a pissing contest.

All the same, you can't blame the author.

Give it a good googling, if need be.

Good thing you each have the option to not read this story...

That's not irony, that's coincidence. Unless you mean it in the Alanis Morrissette sort of way, in which case all things that are not ironic are what you define irony by :-)

The note read: Sex? Circle one. Yes No Maybe

Better that than stuck-wedged-in-a-chair man.

After a certain point, you realize you're going for the record and budget your time accordingly (or at least I did. The last ones weren't as spontaneous as at the beginning, but what can I say—I'm a planner).

If you're a true pedant, then you will appreciate the accuracy of verb tense. The phrase should be, "If I had had the choice, I would rather have died than have been raped." It's not hypothetical like your quoted phrase is. Now, there is a difference between acknowledging that one sees death as preferable to having…