Why is this character being refered as they instead of him?

[CBDunk]

Don't feed the troll.

 

[Notadrizztvariant]

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

for unknown entities only.

 

[mbartol]

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.

Hey, y’all forgot “youse” as in youse guys better knock it off before this here thread gets locked.

 

[popejubal]

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.

It wasn’t incorrect grammar when you learned grammar. You might remember learning that it was incorrect grammar, but if someone taught you that, they gave you incorrect information.

 

[Dude]

for unknown entities only.

Even if that were true, it doesn't really matter. Improper English when widely used, over time, becomes part of proper English. An example of this is the word "decimate," which was a form or punishment in ancient Rome. Originally it meant executing 10% of a group to teach them a lesson, but still maintain the rest of the group and bring them in line. Now it's a synonym for complete devastation and shows up in dictionaries as such.

 

[TedSandyman]

Better stop talking about it, guys. I don't want this to become a fight please. Forget about it.

Don't beat yourself up about it.

You stepped on a landmine with this questions, but it seems to be a good faith effort to understand and not any dig at political correctness or the developers or anyone in general.

Just know that some people don't feel that the words "he" or "she" appropriately describes how they feel about themselves. These people don't think of themselves as a he or a she.

To try to help these people not feel insulted by being lumped into a category they don't feel is correct, it has become common to allow people who feel this way to specify the pronouns they would like used.

"They" and "them" are two of those pronouns that are often used for someone who does not feel like a he or a she. So even though it might not seem correct according to the way you learned about pronouns, it is acceptable to use they and them in this way.

Instead of saying "She went to the market" and implying that the person is a girl, a gender neutral way to say it is "They went to the market".

It is a landmine because some people don't like the idea of gender neutrality or anything that isn't strictly black and white (or girl and boy in this case).

 

[popejubal]

for unknown entities only.

Where the gender is unknown or ambiguous. Not just for unknown persons.

Language is and always has been flexible and mutable. Singular they has been around longer than singular you and I don’t think it’s a problem for the use of singular they expands a bit.

Edit: okay I don’t know where autocorrect came up with that word, but it’s fixed now.

 

[Kimbere]

I'm getting up there in years, but even back when I was in middle school, "they" and "their" were acceptable to be used in singular and plural form. I say this as someone whose mother was an English Lit major in college and thus grew up in a house that placed great emphasis on grammar.

The singular use of they/their was in use LONG before the modern concerns were a twinkle in their great, great grandparents' eyes.

For example, from Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors - Act IV, Scene 3:

Antipholus of Syracuse - There's not a man I meet but doth salute me
As if I were their well-acquainted friend;

That's late 1500s and I'm guessing that wasn't the first recorded use case by a longshot.

 

[Contessor]

They or any derivative of, can be singular, or refer to a group of more than one. This has always been a thing.

Them/Those, however is a more recent pronoun that has changed.

 

[Teh_Troll]

Don't feed the troll.

Excuse me?

 

[Eoin]

Hey, y’all forgot “youse” as in youse guys better knock it off before this here thread gets locked.

Yinz has enter the chat

 

[Natashaelle]

This is the 21st century, they is gender-neutral and can mean only one person.

With a verb conjugated in the plural ?

 

[Natashaelle]

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.

Not as the subject of a sentence, but only in secondary or oblique clauses. Plus, here the individual in question is neither unknown nor irrelevant, so that it is bad grammar. Properly, one can use them or their when the gender of the referend is unknown or indeterminate, but never in reference to a particular, known individual.

 

[Natashaelle]

For example, from Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors - Act IV, Scene 3:

Antipholus of Syracuse - There's not a man I meet but doth salute me
As if I were their well-acquainted friend;

The word "man" here means person, not singular adult human male. Furthermore, the sense suggests a plurality of persons met and saluting.

OED : I. 1.I.1 A human being (irrespective of sex or age); = L. h. omo. In OE. the prevailing sense. †a.I.1.a In many OE. instances, and in a few of later date, used explicitly as a designation equally applicable to either sex.

 

[NightHiker]

Plus, here it is neither unknown nor irrelevant...

According to whom? An NPC is the one doing the talking there. Do you assume to know the other character's genre is not irrelevant to THEM? ( )

one can use them or their when the gender of the referend is unknown or indeterminate, but never in reference to a particular, known individual.

Again, according to whom? Please, show me this Sacred Scripture of the English Language you seem to be referencing. Several people already adressed those issues. Do you tell people they should use "thou" instead of "you" when talking to a singular person as well?

Cheers,
NH

 

[Dude]

The word "man" here means person, not singular adult human male.

OED : I. 1.I.1 A human being (irrespective of sex or age); = L. h. omo. In OE. the prevailing sense. †a.I.1.a In many OE. instances, and in a few of later date, used explicitly as a designation equally applicable to either sex.

Irregardless, their going two use it.

 

[NightHiker]

I mean, it's not like languages keep changing and evolving all the time, right?

So even if this was a completely different and new usage case (which it really isn't, as a little interpretative generosity can show), what's the matter? USAGE informs grammar as much as grammar informs usage. Otherwise we'd all be speaking Old English right now. Every change is technically a formal error until it's not anymore.

Societies change. So does their language, when new needs arise. You can accept it and move on, or go the way of the "thou"s, "thee"s, "ye"s and etc.

Cheers,
NH

 

[Memnir]

 

[Lazuli]

Excuse me?

You're getting fat, Teh_Troll, better not feed you too much lol. That we are still in summer and even the trolls want to look good in a swimsuit

Thanks for the laugh.

And sorry for the off-topic.

 

[kmoustakas]

Hail Hydra!