Pronouns

The War on Grammar

Found on r/badlinguistics. An "explanation" for why the singular use of 'they' is wrong. Includes the line, "Ideally we’d still use “thou” as the familiar for an individual." [Published on 10-08-2016]

Posted by Jacob Goldsmith on April 25, 2019

Tags:
Prescriptivism;
Pronouns

A letter saying they won

Linguist Geoff Pullum ignites a new firestorm with a blog post about singular they to refer to a non-binary person. [Published on 12-04-2017]

Posted by Kara Becker on December 5, 2017

Tags:
gender non-conforming;
Pronouns;
Prescriptivism

Everybody uses singular they, whether they realize it or not

Linguist Geoff Nunberg weighs on in singular they after it was voted 2016 word of the year. [Published on 12-30-2016]

Posted by Kara Becker on December 5, 2017

Tags:
Gender;
gender non-conforming;
Pronouns;
Semantics

The Pronoun They

This article explains how we have gender pronouns in the English language. By drawing examples from how English developed, McCulloch provides information of why gender pronouns are important and are used today. #Ideology #Lexicon #Performativity #Gender non conforming #Gender binary [Published on 06-02-2014]

Posted by Jane Wallerstedt on November 9, 2017

Tags:
Pronouns;
Gender Binary;
gender non-conforming

'He', 'She', 'They' and 'Us'

This article appeared on The New York Times Insider and discusses transgender issues and the use of a person’s preferred pronoun rather than the conventional or binary pronouns commonly used when reporting a news story. The Washington Post, The Associated Press, and The New York Times policy for use of unconventional pronouns is discussed. [Published on 04-05-2017]

Posted by Chance Friesen on July 16, 2017

Tags:
Change;
Gender Binary;
gender non-conforming;
Pronouns

Lying Words: Predicting Deception From Linguistic Styles

This article studies how our linguistic styles differ when we are telling a lie. It uses a “computer based-text analysis program” to study whether study participants were telling the truth or not. It was able to correctly identify the liars and truth tellers at a rate of 61% overall. This article shows how liars showed “lower cognitive complexity, used fewer self-references and other-references, and used more negative emotion words.” [Published on 06-01-2002]

Posted by Chris Robb on October 16, 2016

Tags:
Style-shifting;
Pronouns;
Indexicality

Sorry, grammar nerds: The singular "they" has been declared Word of the Year

Coverage of the American Dialect Society's Word of the Year 2016 vote, in which singular 'they' used to refer to a known reference was voted word of the year.

Posted by Kara Becker on January 28, 2016

Tags:
Gender;
gender non-conforming;
Pronouns

Washington Post accepts singular they

The Washington Post's style guide now accepts singular they. [Published on 12-10-2015]

Posted by Kara Becker on December 14, 2015

Tags:
Change;
Gender;
Prescriptivism;
Pronouns

Facebook, the gender binary, and third person pronouns

An article by Lal Zimman about Facebook's changes to the options provided to users for gender identity and preferred pronoun usage. [Published on 09-23-2014]

Posted by Kara Becker on December 3, 2015

Tags:
Gender Binary;
gender non-conforming;
Pronouns

The Gender neutral pronoun: 150 years later, still an epic fail

An article suggesting that efforts to introduce a gender neutral pronoun into English are bound to fail, given the history of the practice. [Published on 08-16-2010]

Posted by Kara Becker on December 3, 2015

Tags:
Gender Binary;
gender non-conforming;
Pronouns

'Yo' Said What?

In Baltimore kids have started using "yo" as a gender neutral pronoun. [Published on 03-15-2015]

Posted by Terra on March 15, 2015

Tags:
Baltimore English;
Pronouns;
Youth

How using 'they' as a singular pronoun can change the world

This is an article that discusses the importance of using singular 'they' and addresses issues related to its "correctness". [Published on 02-03-2015]

Posted by Gregor McGee on February 20, 2015

Tags:
English;
Change;
Gender;
gender non-conforming;
Pronouns

57% of Languages do not have gendered pronouns

A map from the website "Sociological Images" showing the distribution of gendered and gender-neutral pronouns in the world's languages. 57% of languages profiled here make no gender distinctions. [Published on 10-11-2014]

Posted by Kara Becker on October 14, 2014

Tags:
Gender;
Gender Binary;
Pronouns

Sweden's new gender neutral pronoun is a step towards equality, and catching on quick

A blog post on the recent spread of the gender neutral pronoun "hen" in Sweden. [Published on 10-08-2014]

Posted by Kara Becker on October 14, 2014

Tags:
Gender;
Gender Binary;
Pronouns

NPR: Our use of hidden words

An NPR story on the work of psychologist James Pennebaker, who uses computers to track the use of function words and pronouns in spoken corpora, illustrating the process of accommodation. [Published on 09-01-2014]

Posted by Kara Becker on September 1, 2014

Tags:
Accommodation;
Pronouns;
Indexicality

What Is a “Preferred Gender Pronoun,” and Is It Always Obnoxious?

A discussion of the practice of asking individuals in advance to select their preferred gender pronoun.

Posted by Kara Becker on July 11, 2013

Tags:
Gender;
Pronouns

Using Unbiased language

This site offers suggestions for avoiding gender bias and sexism in the English language.

Posted on November 13, 2012

Tags:
Sexism;
Gender;
Pronouns