this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2024
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[–] [email protected] 99 points 1 week ago (33 children)

In "who left their bag here"'s case, the gender of the person is not known because their identity isn't known, so it doesn't feel strange to use (for us old farts). It can take some effort to retrain your brain to use "they" when it's a single person whose identity is known (speaking from experience as a Gen Xer).

Or the person might just be a transphobic asshole. But I like to think that most just need to educate themselves on using pronouns correctly.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 week ago (23 children)

One thing that might help it feel less strange is realising that you already use a grammatically plural pronoun to refer to individuals all the time: the word "you". It's always "you are tall", not "you is tall", same as "we" or "they" instead of "he" or "she". This is because it was historically plural, and "thou" was the singular. Over time we started using the plural to be more polite, and then eventually always using it.

[–] Makeshift 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I’m joining in the “this blew my mind” sentiment and just want to say thanks for sharing this tidbit of info.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Thee has had thee mind blown?

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