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This usage has a long history for the designation of a third person singular of unspecified gender. That makes it preferable, in my opinion, to the ugly and awkward "he-or-she, his-or-her" which is only a recent political over-correction. Politics trumps reason, though, and so "they" is not acceptable in formal writing.

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Q: Is it now acceptable to use the words 'they' and 'their' as singular pronouns?
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