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MinisculeInformant t1_je2an2d wrote

Reply to comment by Worried_Click_4559 in [ Removed by Reddit ] by noOne000Br

English has four genders: masculine, feminine, neuter, and nonspecific. There are four third-person singular pronouns: he, she, it, and they. Each corresponds to one grammatical gender.

"They" has been used as a singular pronoun since at least the time that Chaucer wrote the Canterbury tales, close to a thousand years ago. However, recently it has become associated with non-binary people (NBs) who prefer to be referred to as "they" rather than by a gendered pronoun. Many people in the USA are bigoted against NBs, and bigots would generally rather be hateful than factually correct.

Personally, I vastly prefer "they" over the slew of neopronouns that have been invented in the last few years.

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DrachenDad t1_je2pbni wrote

>There are four third-person singular pronouns: he, she, it, and they.

Only one is gendered, she. He loosely, don't forget that any gender specific wording attributed to a penis haver is actually for all humans apart from the word male.

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Worried_Click_4559 t1_je2dkrb wrote

Thanks for the advanced English grammar lesson. If I ever get that "refund" I'll send it to you.

Your last line, however, seems a bit opinionated. Such negativity doesn't bother me at all. Did my original comment (admittedly wrong) bother you? It shouldn't have.

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MinisculeInformant t1_je2ey9i wrote

I wasn't one of the people who downvoted you, if that's what you're asking. I guessed (and it seems to be confirmed) that you just aren't used to thinking of "they" as singular.

I'll admit I am a bit opinionated on the subject of neopronouns; I have strong prescriptivist tendencies when it comes to changing language and I dislike meaningless gibberish. I won't hate or mock someone if they prefer neopronouns, but I feel like it's either reinventing the wheel (since we already have NB pronouns) or trying to force more grammatical genders into the language.

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Worried_Click_4559 t1_je2w74s wrote

Downvotes really don't hurt me. I've already been permanently banned from various topics on Reddit due to my non-Liberal stance.

I'm a midwesterner and will continue to believe what I believe, but will consider intelligent arguments from "the other side." I will admit it when I'm shown to be wrong, but will take a bullet just not to cower.

I grew up trusting science but have lived long enough to see it politicized.

We Boomers trusted asbestos, cops and Washington. My Dad, a European immigrant, used to laugh at me for that. He was right. He would have never taken the vaccine like I did. I'm glad my youngest daughter fought against it for her and her kids.

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