Nades wrote:
funeralxempire wrote:
Nades wrote:
IsabellaLinton wrote:
Nades wrote:
You use "they" for a group of people as far as I'm concerned.
... and for a singular person of undetermined gender.
e.g. "If that person ever finishes work, they will go home."
It's more common than you realise to say "they" for an individual.
And more often than not an anonymous person of undetermined gender....... I'm on about calling an person who is already know as "They" which goes against every meaning in the word that I "eventually" learned.
You can learn another meaning, just like one does with many other words in their vocabulary throughout their life.
Who says the meaning needs to change? Since when do "many other words" change meaning within the lifespan of ones life? I'm 32 and I never had to change the meaning of a word. My father also hasn't.
Since when do core words especially like "They" change so quickly?
You see the problem is that every language has a whole bunch of core words. These are a very small number of words, often less than 200 that are use to flesh out 90% of sentences and "They" is included in these core words.
They take hundreds of years to change meaning......not a mere decade. You talk about a word like "They" as if it's a word like "Selfie". They're completely different and it irks
a lot of people when they're expected to use such an important word differently and not only that, be judged negatively if they don't.
Lets take a look at your post. "
You can learn
another meaning,
just like one does with many other words
in their vocabulary throughout
their life."
Can you see the problem in hijacking a core word? You yourself used a derivative of "They" twice in your post yet expect others to accept a new meaning of it? Insisting they do is just flat out imposing on them.
I smell BS in everything you said.
I'm not insisting, one is free to acknowledge a shift has occurred or one can resist. But, people are entitled to comment on other's behaviours, including in this context.
They as a personal pronoun isn't a substantial deviation from the other ways it's already used. It seems fair to assume you disagree but your entire premise seems to be overreaction to a normal process that occurs over time to languages.
Insisting that because you personally haven't altered your vocabulary related to the natural evolution doesn't mean that the language hasn't evolved during your lifetime. It says nothing about anything beyond your personal preferences with how to use language.
If one wishes to retain archaic usages, all the power to them but they'll be the odd one out eventually and others will notice. Others are entitled to notice.
_________________
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing. —Malcolm X
Just a reminder: under international law, an occupying power has no right of self-defense, and those who are occupied have the right and duty to liberate themselves by any means possible.
01 Sep 2022, 5:41 pm
