5minutes later: "I think ...". Why not "We think..."?
"I want to be called <them>"
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Them and they are the pronouns non-binary people choose to use instead he/him or she/her. They still identify as individuals like the rest of us to by using 'I'.
Because “I” is gender-neutral. Adira, and many other enbys, prefer they/them to he/him or she/her because of gender identity, not because they’re a Trill.
'They' is not solely plural. 'They' can be singular.
And this is not a new thing?
I always used 'they' instead of 'it' when the being in question was, well, a being, not a object. I do it to dogs, cats, animals, people, or just switch out 'he' and 'she' if I have to refer to someone constantly in conversation.
That's a hot take these days?
And this is not a new thing?
I always used 'they' instead of 'it' when the being in question was, well, a being, not a object. I do it to dogs, cats, animals, people, or just switch out 'he' and 'she' if I have to refer to someone constantly in conversation.
That's a hot take these days?
Singular "they" has been around since before Chaucer's time as a way to refer to a single individual of unknown or unspecific gender. It's used that way in countless English works including Shakespeare's plays and the King James Bible. The idea that it's exclusively plural is just a bit of invented language pedantry that never reflected how the English language actually functions.
Basically, "they/them" works the same as "you" -- it's both singular and plural and takes "are" in both cases. If you remember that, it becomes simple to understand.
Basically, "they/them" works the same as "you" -- it's both singular and plural and takes "are" in both cases. If you remember that, it becomes simple to understand.
I predict OP will mention fascism before too much longer. 
https://www.reddit.com/r/StarTrekDi...ant_to_be_called_them_5minutes_later_i_think/
https://www.reddit.com/r/StarTrekDi...ant_to_be_called_them_5minutes_later_i_think/
@Christopher is correct 'they' has been used since the late Middle Ages. However, it is only homonymous with the personal pronoun 'they" in its origings. While the latter started out as a means of identifying a collective, generally masculine, noun, the neutral 'they' started out as a neutral demonstrative pronoun, like 'this' and 'that.' Only over time has it evolved into a personal pronoun that avoids gender identification.
Nonetheless, 'they are' hurts my ears in the singular. I prefer using one, s/he, s↕he, or ze when I am not referring to a particular individual.
Nonetheless, 'they are' hurts my ears in the singular. I prefer using one, s/he, s↕he, or ze when I am not referring to a particular individual.
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With the exception ze, those won’t work well in spoken language.
And ze sounds like the but with a very bad German accent.
They/them has been established as the contemporary gender neutral term and how weird it sounds will change with ongoing normalization.
It‘s still a little weirder in other languages.
German for example, has sie and sie as singular female and gender neutral plural as well as Sie as the formal you.
Talk about confusion.
That‘s why even here the English they/them seems to be used for non-binary. But it takes more getting used to, than in English.
I wasn't quite as clear about my meaning. I corrected my post.
In a language where they is only translated in plural and also masculine/mixed or female form it sounds even worse. It is like talking about a group of people and not one particular person. Add to that the mess of translating sentences from I and You in the singular when for verbs, nouns there is either masculine or female form.
Well, it's up to the person being referred to how they want to be called, of course. That's just everyday courtesy.
If it were up to me, I like the idea of "ey/em" as a neutral singular pronoun. It avoids confusion with plural they/them and is less clumsy than the options you listed. However, "they/them" seems to be the version that's caught on in common usage, so it seems the choice has been made, and I respect that, because it's not about me.
Yeah -- like most new things, it's just a matter of getting used to it with exposure and practice. I had trouble with singular they at first, but I'm getting the hang of it. For instance, the first time I did a work of fiction with a non-gendered character (an alien whose subspecies had engineered themselves to be asexual, in my Analog story "Twilight's Captives"), I initially had the character use he/him, with my rationale being that in multispecies usage, "he" would have come to be used for non-reproducing sexes (e.g. male or asexual) and "she" for reproducing sexes (e.g. female or hermaphroditic). By the time I actually sold the story, though, I'd learned more about non-binary gender and pronouns and realized that system was problematical and outdated. So I rewrote the story to remove the character's he/him pronouns. But I couldn't make "they" work in its place without it sounding like a plural reference to multiple characters, so I ended up not using any pronoun at all for the character, just their given name or a descriptive phrase. Now, though, I'm writing another work with a non-binary character, and I'm finding it much easier to use they/them, since I'm writing it with that usage in mind from the start rather than trying to graft it in later. Also just because it seems to be a more widespread, well-understood usage now, so I'm not as worried about it being misread.
Please read my correction.
I predict OP will mention fascism before too much longer.
https://www.reddit.com/r/StarTrekDi...ant_to_be_called_them_5minutes_later_i_think/
Fascism you say?
*Adjusts jackboot
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