An Observation from the Field of Historical Orthography

According to the 1958 reference manual of the Academy of Sciences, the correct form is “Muž s ženoj pošli na ogorod” [“Husband and wife went (plural) to the kitchen garden”], since the subjects, husband and wife, are equals. But “mat’ s rebenkom pošla na ogorod” [“Mother and child went (singular) to the kitchen garden”], since here there is as yet no equality: the child is subordinate to the mother.

But feminitives are still a long way off, and for now it is “inzhener Smirnova” who has departed [with the verb in the masculine].