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by DontBeADick 4144 days ago
> The kind that use proper spelling and punctuation, perhaps?

Don't you mean "the kind who use proper spelling"?

If you're going to correct someone, at least get it right.

2 comments

Don't you mean "the kind who use proper spelling"?

No. Both "who" and "that" may be used to anchor relative clauses with human antecedents. To quote [1]:

Most writers use 'that' and 'which' as the relative pronouns for inanimate objects, and who as the relative pronoun for humans. This widespread habit has led to the mistaken belief that using that in reference to humans is an error. In fact, while most editors prefer who for people, there is no rule saying we can’t use that, and that has been widely used in reference to people for many centuries.

In other words, my original sentence was perfectly grammatical, and in regard to the original commenter's presentation skills -- and their correlation to his employability and salary potential -- I was simply stating the obvious. But this being HN, I've been downvoted and/or flamed at least 8 times for it.

[1] http://grammarist.com/usage/that-who/

Both the Associated Press Stylebook and the Chicago Manual of Style recommend spelling out numbers less than nine and ninety-nine, respectively.
That's just a style recommendation. It doesn't mean that doing it the other way is wrong.
Which is, of course, hardly a comparable proscription.

Nor is it widely adhered to, in colloquial usage.