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My pet peeve about using "they" is it seems to imply an undue politeness or superiority. Plurality is an ancient metaphor for power, and many languages today ha
by alwayslikethis 4y ago
My pet peeve about using "they" is it seems to imply an undue politeness or superiority. Plurality is an ancient metaphor for power, and many languages today have the same form for a plural "you" and a polite "you". Another example is the royal "we".
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- jimmywetnips 4y agoDid you know you is actually the plural and the singular is thou? My problem with any of this switching around is that since it's used by a very small minority in a very forced way, until it becomes mainstream in the way 'you' has become mainstream, it's confusing af. I've had multiple instances when a they was mentioned in a decision and I had to ask, " wait I thought we only had one designer on this ticket who else got added... Oh you're using singular they.. got it"
- rqtwteye 4y agoI would be fine with "it" instead of "they" :-)
- richbell 4y ago> My pet peeve about using "they" is it seems to imply an undue politeness or superiority I suppose it could be considered similar to Spanish and French where you have "you" (peers) and then formal "you" (authorities).
- rqtwteye 4y agoSame in German. The formal address is in plural. “Sie sind…”
- OkayPhysicist 4y agoWe used to have that in English with the formal "you" and informal "thou", but politeness lead to the near-exclusive use of "you" until "thou" became archaic. And now that it's archaic, people think it must have been formal. Funny little circular journey.