They instead of he or she
It used to be so easy. When the sex of a person doing something was unknown, the sentence always took the male form:
If anyone detects smoke, he must raise the alarm immediately.
The trouble was, people at large would probably use "they" instead of "he". Grammarians didn't like this, as "they" is clearly a plural and the person raising the alarm is a singular. The "he" method of expression, however, is equally as wrong if the person raising the alarm is a female; it also smacks of a time (which existed only in the minds of a certain class of influential people) when only males did anything important.
And so "he or she" was coined.
If anyone detects smoke, he or she must raise the alarm immediately.
But the people still used "they". Attempts to purify English have always failed, as it is the uncorralled herd of the language's speakers who determine how it is spoken and written.
Although "he or she" (or s/he) is still used in formal and legal contexts, it is becoming more acceptable to use "they" unless it really would cause confusion. Similarly, "his or her" can be presented as "their" and "his or hers" can be written as "theirs".
If anyone detects smoke, they must raise the alarm immediately.
Ask Oxford seems to agree, and this page cites some case-resting examples ...
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