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I have (begrudgingly) gotten used to “singular they”. I accept that I am not an authority on how language is used, and this is how the language has evolved. I’d have preferred a separate singular non-gendered pronoun, but I wasn’t consulted because, again, not an authority on the subject. It is fine, I will adapt (and have already done so to some degree).
HOWEVER, I still have beef with what happened to “literally” and will bring it up any time semantic shift is the subject of conversation.
Asking “how are they doing” when referring to a singular third person has literally always been normal english. The singular they has basically always been fine and proper english.
I want to make fun of you for being older than Shakespeare. Even Shakespeare was less of a boomer about singular they
Shakespeare had no problem with singular they, by the way.
I also found it natural to use before I had a concept of those existing outside the gender binary. “Who left their umbrella?”
Mentioning semantic shift here doesn’t seem to do anything but make me imagine you are grandpa Simpson yelling at passing clouds.
i’m totally grandpa simpson about this. “Literally” is literally a lost cause.
The singular “they” isn’t even the first time English has specifically appropriated a plural pronoun for the singular for the sake of social respect!!!
We don’t even use the second person singular “thou” anymore, we just use “you” for both of them!
At one point in American history the singular they was normal and accepted but the singular you was deeply controversial
As a side note, if I’m talking to you, I won’t be using “they”, that’s only for talking about you
Only weirdos talk to tits, I, as a gentleman, always address each individually (by their preferred pronouns ofc).
/s
When he was 2, one of my nephews decided to name my tits after the main characters of his favorite TV show. I thought it was so funny that I still introduce them to partners as Bingo and Rolly.
Lol.
Better than:
- Tom & Jerry
- Mario & green Mario
- Finn & Jake
- Patrick & SpongeBob
- Fox & Dana
- Beavis & ButtheadOhh, Bingo & Rolly are sweater puppies, now I get it!
Lefty and righty?
I still sometimes get those two wrong …
Every single person who complains that “they” is weird has, without the slightest wisp of a shadow of a doubt, said something along the lines of “yeah their coat is just over there” or “I think they were saying that…”. They can already do it, and it’s not hard, they just really wanna hate.
I’m fine with ‘they’, but I think you’re misrepresenting the very real problem that is inserting a 3rd-person pronoun as a personal pronoun due to the existing patterns ingrained and interpreted through speech.
It doesn’t hurt me to try and make the conscious change, I do actively try for the people in my life, but it DOES flow weird in my brain and takes more mental effort to keep straight. At least, it still does, it might get easier with more time, I don’t know.
We’ve been doing it for hundreds of years. If you really want to fix something then come up with a plural for “you”; that would be far more helpful.
You may not notice those times you say “they” like in the examples I already gave, but you do say it, and the only thing tripping you up is that you’re thinking about it. It’s like breathing, it’s weird when you’re paying attention but it’s not wrong and you’ve always done it.
I don’t know why you’re being downvoted. You’re correct. Plural they is at least as old as Shakespeare. The notion that it’s only singular is modern.
People really don’t want to treat trans people properly and they’ll even pretend shit they already do easily is somehow weird and too difficult. I’m just a cis dude over her, with a host of non-binary friends, and for the most part I just say “they” and haven’t died yet. And I fuck it up sometimes and don’t get hung from the rafters like these goons think will happen, probably because the only scenario they know is when they get it wrong on purpose or are otherwise agitating someone.
“You” is the plural of “thou”. It even has plural grammar (“you are”, not “you is”)
I thought you was the more respectful form of thou in singular, and “ye” was the plural form of that. In Ireland you still hear ye used for plural you sometimes.
By more respectful i mean similar to usted in Spanish or vous in French
You’re saying that as if you speak to an individual and say “you is”. Do you do that?
That’s almost the opposite of what I said.
So, singular “you” also has this “plural grammar” you mention and we don’t say “thou” anymore. So what’s your point, then?
That was my point.
You said find a plural for “you”.
I said that “you” is already a plural.
That’s it, there’s nothing deeper.
They is running late?
You is not very smart, is you?
Again, second person vs third person.
It would seem jakr is not smart one.
You are not the smart one.
Fail.
You are singularly really dumb.
Second person vs third person, dummy. If you’re going to insult someone’s intelligence, at least be right about it.
“Ah yes, let us disregard basic grammar rules in order to make a stupid argument to ‘prove’ my point, that’s clearly what’ll convince people that my way is the right one”
- your stupid ass
I’m not the one disregarding the grammar rules. You are.
Wow, I did not expect people to assume I was a biggot for pointing out the issues this causes for clarity in language. Like it is legitimately confusing.
You are almost there, well done for trying
Nope, that’s actually correct. You may need to re-attend grade school
“They are running late”. We’ve been using the singular “they” for hundreds of years, it isn’t that difficult. German uses third person plural for polite second person singular, it’s not that weird to have third person plural be third person singular, too, especially when English makes no distinction between between “you” and “you”.
Anyway, it’s simple shit.
We also use “they” singular if we don’t know the gender of a person, like when we haven’t met them yet.
In that sense it was a very logical choice for non-binary people in my opinion.
“They did a great job on the last project. They are a valuable member of the team”
Are they very tall?
The tits?
It’s an inherited property, so yeah them too
I kinda hate that this gets so much exposure. Obviously it’s very dependent on where people live and this is purely anecdotal but I have never in my life met a person that wanted to be called by a pronoun that did not match their outward appearance.
Why do conservabitches act like it is so difficult? Only 1 person they ever met; and usually they don’t even meet them they’re reacting to a social media post. You can’t make an adjustment for ONE person in the entirety of your existence???
