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Because Satoshi's identity and whether or not they were a singular individual or a group of individuals is unknown. It is entirely acceptable, and more often th
by panorama 5y ago
Because Satoshi's identity and whether or not they were a singular individual or a group of individuals is unknown. It is entirely acceptable, and more often than not probabilistically and politically correct, to use they/them here.
I doubt anyone would be upset at people using he/him when referring to Satoshi, but also along those same lines, it seems strange to be upset at they/them usage for an unknown entity.
- drfxyjhdyfrhgc 5y agohttps://japanese-names.info/first_name/satoshi/ https://japanese-names.info/first_name/satoshi/ >Gender:male
- perl4ever 5y agoAnd this means what? I certainly could provide a counterexample if you think people always use pseudonyms of the same gender.
- drfxyjhdyfrhgc 5y agoIf someone chooses a male pseudonym, is it sensible for everyone to individually decide what pronouns to use? This strikes me as opposed to similar etiquette.
- perl4ever 5y agoI always liked the singular "they". It was supposedly normal usage for hundreds of years before some prescriptivists tried to stamp it out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they "The singular they emerged by the 14th century,[3] about a century after the plural they. It has been commonly employed in everyday English ever since then and has gained currency in official contexts. Singular they has been criticised since the mid-18th century by prescriptive commentators who considered it an error."
- lifthrasiir 5y agoA good opportunity to learn about the so-called DQN name [1] or Irohahime [2]. [1] https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A9%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A9%E3%83%8D%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A0 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A9%E3%82%AD%E3... (in Japanese) [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irohahime https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irohahime
- perl4ever 5y agoIf it's not even known that Satoshi was an individual, how is it known they weren't a woman?
- Spooky23 5y agoThe individual used a male name, so it’s reasonable to make that assumption in common speech. In terms of individual vs group, it seems unlikely that a group would have the discipline to not do anything with billions of dollars or expose the individual with control of the same.
- perl4ever 5y ago>The individual used a male name, so it’s reasonable to make that assumption in common speech. As long as you don't know it's a pseudonym, yes. I don't know when that became generally accepted.
- dcow 5y agoRight. I’ve never experienced dialog or writing where somebody elects a gendered pronoun based on the pseudonymous handle used to reference the antecedent when their gender is either irrelevant, unspecified, or unknown. I’m curious which communities practice this colloquially?
- temp8964 5y agoI think the author of the article already assumes Satoshi is a single person. The name is simply a Japanese male name. So it is obviously wrong to call him "they". This kind of stupidity only works in Woke English. Translate it to most other languages will make the readers deeply confused: what's wrong with the writer? What's going on in his mind?
- dcow 5y agoThere is nothing woke about this. Trust me I am not a fan of useless woke constructs that exist to signal virtue. I’m sure we agree on that. This is not one of those things. When you are referring to some entity with unknown gender, you use “they” and “their” so as not to lead the reader or the person you're speaking towards any assumptions and just because it’s the clearly correct way to convey the state of affairs to your audience (this matters to pedantic people). To someone who practices this in their own communication, it conveys a real signal that others pick up on. Pseudonyms generally aren’t referred to by the gender of the chosen name/handle but rather act as a proxy for the person who uses them, therefore you wouldn't refer to Satoshi as “he/him” but as the gender of the user of the pseudonym which is unknown, hence they/them. The author, while making the case that Len may be Satoshi, never asserts as much to be true. So I also read the usage of they/them as a reminder that they are presenting an argument/case not declaring fact.
- temp8964 5y agoLol. If what you said make any sense at all, why this they/them is not a norm in English already? Please explain why this is a new thing?