[ostso]

> The singular "they", on the other hand, is artificial, at least among people of my generation -- we already have "one", thank you very much.

Huh? Singular "they" has little to do with "one" -- it's used as an alternative to "he"/"she" when the gender is unknown (like the Finnish "hän", for instance).

It may or may not be artificial, but what would you use instead?

[hugh3]

I usually find that one can rephrase one's sentences using "one" in order to avoid committing oneself to the gender of one's hypothetical individual.

It can be awkward in many circumstances; eg turning "The President can choose his own staff" --> "If one is the president then one may choose one's own staff".

Of course "The President may choose their own staff" sounds awkward as well. "His own staff" would have been standard English at just about any time in the last N centuries.

[epistemenical]

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?cat=27