Why is this character being refered as they instead of him?
- Thread starter Arthuvin
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Drunken.dx
Well-known member
I don't see any issues, "they" is completely valid expression.
Maybe the devs used the same spelling and grammar checker you do?
WielderofGigantus
Well-known member
This is the 21st century, they is gender-neutral and can mean only one person.
T.O.
Well-known member
Yes, it's the Newspeak of Oceania.
NightHiker
Well-known member
It's not an "ideology thing", nor a "21st Century thing". It's always been a thing for anyone that actually knows English. "Ideology" is people raging against it because they don't know better.
Cheers,
NH
Arthuvin
Well-known member
I was wondering about that.
Arthuvin
Well-known member
I mean no animosity. I was just asking if that was an error. My mother language is not english. If it is yours, maybe u are right. U know more than I.
NightHiker
Well-known member
Well, if you don't know, then don't assume things about that which you don't know, like it being an "ideology thing". It's perfectly fine to not know things - what is not fine is to take our limited horizons for the whole world.
The usage of "they/them" as singular pronouns when the gender is unknown or irrelevant is centuries old - you can find it in the works of icons like Shakespeare or Jane Austin, for example.
And people do it all the time without realizing it, like when we say something like "that runner didn't check if their shoes were properly tied". See that it works whether the gender is unknown or irrelevant.
So it's not the usage of the pronouns that is new - it just so happens that gender has become increasingly more irrelevant as people understand (and gladly so) they should not care whether anyone is a "he", a "she", or whatever else they identify as, and stop assuming they're this or that, which means using "they/them" more frequently.
So it's not an "ideology" thing, just a "not assuming something about a person I don't really know" thing.
Cheers,
NH
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Sophie The Cat Burglar
Exotic Items Recovery Specialist
It was incorrect English grammar when I learned grammar. It is still incorrect English grammar in some places. For reasons that cannot be discussed in these forums, American English is on the front lines of a ideological battle. Things are getting very ugly where I live and I am sincerely fearful my country will soon descend into civil war.
Volrune_the_Aggregate
New member
Much has been written on they, and we aren’t going to attempt to cover it here. We will note that they has been in consistent use as a singular pronoun since the late 1300s; that the development of singular they mirrors the development of the singular you from the plural you, yet we don’t complain that singular you is ungrammatical; and that regardless of what detractors say, nearly everyone uses the singular they in casual conversation and often in formal writing.
Imagine that - singular they been in use since 1300s!
That's clearly just ideological BS. The correct plural of you is clearly y'all, all y'all, and you'uns, depending upon the size of the group.
NightHiker
Well-known member
Don't make the mistake of seeing language as just whatever is taught in any given school or by any given teacher. English Grammar is not dogma, nor hard science. And "formal grammatical" English is not all there is to English, just a subset of it. Accepted colloquial English is not "wrong", either.
There's always been a hard nosed group of English (or any language) grammar police who, sadly, sees language as something that can be controlled with an iron fist, and it's perhaps not a coincidence those are also common among people who would like to meddle into the personal affairs and thoughts of others.
Actually, I doubt VERY much that everyone who shows grievance with this usage because it's allegedly "grammatically incorrect" always writes or speaks English in a gramatically correct manner. It's mostly just an excuse to justify prejudice against a more inclusive usage of the language.
You don't see anyone complaining today about "you" being used in the singular instead of "thou", but if there was social media in the 17th Century I bet we'd have seen the same kind of ruckus about it being "gramatically incorrect". The very same arguments against the usage of "they" in the singular exist for "you". The difference is the singular "you" doesn't bring to attention another totally different issue, which is recognizing and adressing our society's flawed construction of gender roles.
Someone saying that embracing a more inclusive usage of language might bring about a "civil war" is, quite frankly, mindboggling. Language has no feelings, English will be fine despite your worries.
Cheers,
NH
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Jack Jarvis Esquire
Well-known member
Let folks be.
Let them be who they want to be.
If they aren't hurting anyone, who cares?
There's more than enough worth hating in this world already without looking for more.
Let them be who they want to be.
If they aren't hurting anyone, who cares?
There's more than enough worth hating in this world already without looking for more.
NightHiker
Well-known member
I'd actually say that not talking more openly and freely about such things is one of the reasons they're still so contentious. We can't learn about something if we don't talk about it - so in a sense it was good you brought it up.
I'm sure there was a lot to learn, one way or another, for many who browsed through this thread. I did.
Cheers,
NH
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