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skinnercitycyclist's avatar

It gets worse, at my school we were informed that anybody can simply make up their own pronouns and insist people use them. I have a student who uses "them/it," and I have a hard time referring to someone as "it." Also, I wrote an email concerning this kid (a great kid, btw!) and it took me twice as long to edit it due to having to fix the pronouns, for a kid who totally presents as a teenage boy.

The main thing is it's unworkable, as you say, and as an editor who knows something of language, you know that. Top-down language prescription hardly EVER works, this highlights why linguistics is a social science. The folks are going to do what the folks are going to do.

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DDB9000's avatar

Oh, bloody hell, another ''editor'' who PRETENDS to know about language but refuses to realise that languages change over time. Were you chilselling this stupid screed on a stone tablet or wrting it with a quill pen? What does 'btw' mean? I don't remember Shakespeare saying that. There were films called both 'Them'' and ''It" - did you call both those films ''Him''?

You have also very stupidly destroyed your own main screed in one sentence that ends with... ''for a kid who totally presents as a teenage boy;''.Some years ago, most people would've had no idea what that meant, or thought a teenage boy was presenting an award.

You, Sir Preen Knight, have just presented yourself the booby prize.Please retreat to your hatch, but do not drop of any more eggs of false 'wisdom'.

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