3 ms·

It upsets me because it's removing utility from the language. "They" is plural. "They are running late" tells me that multiple people are delayed. "She is ru

It upsets me because it's removing utility from the language. "They" is plural. "They are running late" tells me that multiple people are delayed. "She is running late" tells me that one person is running late. It's a silly workaround at best, but also a massive reduction in the usefulness of the language, and it establishes the awful precedent that a accommodating a fraction of a percentage of people supersedes the universal utility of the language. Even if you are okay with "they", what will the next re-write of the language sacrifice? Don't get me wrong, if there is a way to accommodate that small group of people's circumstances without damaging the language, I am 100% for it. But "they" is like cutting off your middle finger in order to never gesture rudely with your hand.

wumpus 7y ago
Shakespeare used singular "they". If you want to cite your personal authority vs The Bard, you lose. Hint: he used it in gender-bent situations. Theater people tend to be progressive... 400 years ahead of the game in this instance.
elliekelly 7y ago
> It upsets me because it's removing utility from the language. > "They" is plural. It's not though. We use the singular "they" in conversation all the time. You're probably just so used to it that you don't notice. "The Uber driver is still ten minutes away, maybe they got stuck in traffic." "Somebody left their book on the bus." Nobody would think there are multiple people driving the car or that the book belongs to several different people.
mirimir 7y ago
That's actually not what's in contention here. Using singular "they" when gender is unknown avoids the old default of "he". Which feminists rightly took as sexist. What this is about is using singular "they" when declared gender is known. Whatever people declare themselves to be is what they are. The rest is just mechanics.

wumpus 7y ago

Shakespeare used singular "they". If you want to cite your personal authority vs The Bard, you lose. Hint: he used it in gender-bent situations. Theater people tend to be progressive... 400 years ahead of the game in this instance.

elliekelly 7y ago

> It upsets me because it's removing utility from the language. > "They" is plural. It's not though. We use the singular "they" in conversation all the time. You're probably just so used to it that you don't notice. "The Uber driver is still ten minutes away, maybe they got stuck in traffic." "Somebody left their book on the bus." Nobody would think there are multiple people driving the car or that the book belongs to several different people.

mirimir 7y ago

That's actually not what's in contention here. Using singular "they" when gender is unknown avoids the old default of "he". Which feminists rightly took as sexist. What this is about is using singular "they" when declared gender is known. Whatever people declare themselves to be is what they are. The rest is just mechanics.