Possibly stupid question. They/them/their/... what? Themself? Theirself? Themselves? This is the only remotely confusing part to me about singular they, how do you form the self? #pronouns #enby #nonbinary #SingularThey #TheyThem

I wrote a whole-ass blog post after a family member made an insensitive comment about my #nonbinary spouse. Check it out:

https://tyg3r.com/swarm-of-bees/

#queer #singularthey #actuallyautistic

“A brief history of singular ‘they’.” Baron 2018. #OxfordEnglishDictionary. https://public.oed.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-singular-they/

#SingularThey #TheyThem #EnglishGrammar #EnglishLanguage #LanguageHistory #History

Nadir Junco summarises the evidence about #singularThey in English before comparing British and American varieties

An experiment asking participants to fill in pronouns for a variety of antecedents found that people find it the most difficult to use 'they' following a proper name reference — especially those who don't personally know anyone who uses they/them pronouns

If you are having problems remembering to use the right pronouns for your nonbinary friend, one helpful tool is to save them in your phone contacts list with They as their surname, so that you get reminded every time you call them or SMS them.

For example,

Kim They
James They
Sarah They

#Nonbinary
#They
#SingularThey
#Respect

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But what is this new use?

Is it limited to technical language? A sort of extension of the "don't insert yourself" rule against first-person pronouns? Like, maybe "they" feels more aloof and objective than "he" or "she"?

Or are people starting to use "they/them/their as a default third-person pronoun, without needing a *reason* to avoid the gendered alternatives?

#singularThey

This is a new level of #singularThey for me, and I so want to know what it signals.

I'm used to it conveying uncertainty (that's the age-old meaning).

I'm also familiar with using they/them/their as a positive choice not to assign a referent to a gender-binary category.

(2/3)

Okay, I'm in the middle of marking a technical report in linguistics, and I've now seen this several times. Student identifies a participant as "male" or "female", and then immediately talks about "their age" or "their first language".

#singularThey (1/3)

One thing I still find myself getting pedantic about, and editing out when I see it, is 'they' used for organisations.

I particularly hate it when used for corporations: "Coles said they are now giving out free apples too."

I wonder if people intuitively think of institutions and organisations as indefinite in a sinister, even conspiratorial sense: "They're watching you." As my cooker brother likes to say, a conspiracy always involves a group of "one or more people". It is plural!

However, I have been using 'they' myself throughout this thread to refer to the various style guides, because I reason that any style guide is a collaborative production so 'they' is the editorial team.

My general rule is that organisations should be treated as singular, not plural, unless a consensus action or decision is implied. Politically, I prefer to emphasise that a corporation acts as a singular entity, but is not a person. So it should not get to shelter under the singular they.

There's a perfectly good pronoun for nonhuman singular agents:

"Coles said it is now giving out free apples too."

But: "The Coles board have approved the free apple scheme."

Animals are a tricky case because we get so anthropomorphic about them, but if the sex or gender of an animal is unknown I reckon you can also use 'it':

"As I picked up the baby chick to determine its sex, it made adorable cheeping noises."

#language #they #SingularThey #InclusiveLanguage #Writing #Editing

But the reflexive pronoun poses a challenge. Some people prefer 'themself' as a singular option, because 'themselves' just _feels_ too plural.

#ChicagoManualOfStyle prefers 'themself' but allows 'themselves'.

The AU Govt #StyleManual prefers 'themselves' but allows 'themself'.

#APA says, "Both 'themselves' and 'themself' are acceptable as reflexive singular pronouns; however, 'themselves' is currently the more common usage."

One big challenge of gender-neutral writing is getting used to the roll between singular and plural when the sentence uses someone's name and then their pronoun. This isn't intuitively 'good grammar' for many people.

I am okay with the shift between "Ali wants a free apple and they want to find their keys" but I kind of struggle with 'themself', which I know some people find more safely singular.

I'd rather use 'themselves', which I think most people instinctively reach for in colloquial settings when the subject is unknown.

I used the following example in a Facebook writers' group, where it was greeted with mirth: "Smells like someone shat themselves."

#language #they #SingularThey #InclusiveLanguage #Writing #Editing

#APStyle prefers replacing a nonbinary person's pronoun with their name, and to mention in the story that they use gender-neutral pronouns.

#APA embraces the singular they: "because it is inclusive of all people and helps writers avoid making assumptions about gender. Although usage of the singular 'they' was once discouraged in academic writing, many advocacy groups and publishers have accepted and endorsed it, including Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary."

#ChicagoManualOfStyle recommended the singular they in its 14th edition but then got cold feet and rescinded the recommendation in the 15th and 16th editions, but lol, the 17th edition is okay with it, but in 'formal writing' they recommend avoiding it through the following strategies:

– omit pronoun

– repeat the noun, as AP recommends (though they do say, "Take care not to overuse this technique." LOL)

– use plurals or the imperative mood, as AU Govt Style recommends

– use an article instead of a pronoun (e.g. 'the application' instead of 'their application')

– use the pronoun 'one'. But weirdly their example doesn't use it the way I would, e.g. "One must always be careful." #CMOS is like, "An actor in New York earns more than one in Paducah."

CMOS also notes that the singular they is more accepted in UK usage than US usage.

#language #they #SingularThey #InclusiveLanguage #Writing #Editing

Here's what some major style guides say:

The Australian Government #StyleManual strongly favours the singular they: "Our use of language reflects changes in society. There is wide agreement about using language to support equality between all genders."

Because users of AU Govt Style are often working with institutional or bureaucratic text, they recommend:

– rephrasing in the second person with an instructional tone: "You must provide copies of your application to your referees."

– using plural pronouns: "Candidates must provide copies of their applications to their referees."

– avoiding pronouns altogether: "Every candidate must provide copies of the application to referees."

As an aside, I am not really a fan of AU Govt Style's preference to hyphenate 'gender-fluid', 'gender-queer' and 'non-binary'. I prefer to run them together: genderfluid; genderqueer; nonbinary.

#language #they #SingularThey #InclusiveLanguage #Writing #Editing

Re: my previously boosted tweet about the nongendered singular 'they' in English: what convinced me that this is legitimate in formal writing contexts is that it just flows better in a sentence than clunky binary constructs like 'he or she' and 'himself or herself' or the more awkward '(s)he' and 's/he'.

We still conjugate the singular 'they' with plural verbs. It's what we instinctively reach for with an indefinite pronoun (someone, anyone, everyone), or when a sentence agent is unknown:

"Free apples: anyone can take one if they want."

"Someone lost their keys."

"Ali dropped their keys as they were picking up a free apple."

#language #they #SingularThey #InclusiveLanguage #Writing #Editing

If you object to #SingularThey, thou shouldst also object to singular you.

Is #Themself a word? https://www.themself.org/2006/07/themself/?utm_source=ReviveOldPost&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ReviveOldPost #academic #dictionary #firecontrol #singularthey