[PERMANENTLY CLOSED] Gender Neutral Terms Suggested for use at University

[Armoured]

Not always. Only since Ann Fisher's A New Grammar (1745). Such use didn't really become common until about the time of the American Civil War.

OK. "Always" in the sense of recognisable English in it's modern usage.

 

[SepiaAndDust]

OK. "Always" in the sense of recognisable English in it's modern usage.

The English of the 18th and 19th centuries was both recognizable and modern. The singular they has been in use for about six centuries, right up to the present day, despite its affront to ridiculous prescriptivist sensibilities.

 

[JustMeSee]

It may be clumsy, but I use, "he or she".

I hate to say he when it very well could be a she. Non-humans I refer to as it until I know otherwise.

 

[Trogdor the Burninator]

These people's heads must explode when they come across a language like Thai which has gendered terms used depending on the sex of the speaker....

 

[Blank Stair]

Full article: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015...veryone-to-use-gender-inclusive-pronouns.html





Is this even English?

Now, now, don't encroach on the movement that will soon arise defining English as whatever words someone wants to use.
Case in point, this absurd University announcement. What a sorry excuse for a higher learning institution to decide gender pronouns are just so wrong. Why heck , calling a man a man may offend a man. Same for women. And why is this? I think we can figure out the cross language evolves with the forced tolerance by law of cross dressing.
Wait! I promise you, one day soon you'll see someone being prosecuted, punished in some way if not by law, because they refused to address someone by their furry identity. No kidding! They'll have civil rights too. Wait and see.

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

My style guide at uni said to use "they, them, their" in the singular form. I made a point of using "one".

My biggest academic crime is always writing in first person in most of my assignments lol

 

[StephanieSomer]

Full article: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015...veryone-to-use-gender-inclusive-pronouns.html





Is this even English?

Yes, it is. And, these aren't really new. They've been around for at least a decade, to my knowledge. I am acquainted with several individuals who prefer such pronouns. Why is it so hard for some people to respect another person's wishes about how they are treated without it becoming a fight, or ridiculing them? To those among us who smoke tobacco, I'm sure that you'd never provoke your non-smoking friends by smoking in their presence, unless they have given their consent. What's so different about this situation? A person prefers to be addressed in a particular way. Why is that an unreasonable request for some people? It's just common decency.

 

[zephyrWiccan]

It is annoying enough to have to write papers in gender neutral terms in college. I am glad i don't go to that college.

The only reason it is annoying to have to write papers like that is because in English, there's no real good gender neutral pronouns, etc., with which to write said papers. I write papers as a scientist rather regularly and the lack of a decent gender neutral pronoun is frustrating (a good number other languages have them).

And that's not to mention the frustrations for people who don't fall neatly on the ole binary gender tradition (those who are androgyne, agender, intergender, etc.).

 

[katerinah1947]

Yes, it is. And, these aren't really new. They've been around for at least a decade, to my knowledge. I am acquainted with several individuals who prefer such pronouns. Why is it so hard for some people to respect another person's wishes about how they are treated without it becoming a fight, or ridiculing them? To those among us who smoke tobacco, I'm sure that you'd never provoke your non-smoking friends by smoking in their presence, unless they have given their consent. What's so different about this situation? A person prefers to be addressed in a particular way. Why is that an unreasonable request for some people? It's just common decency.

Hi,
Welcome back Stephanie.
LOVE,
...Mary., .... .

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

The only reason it is annoying to have to write papers like that is because in English, there's no real good gender neutral pronouns, etc., with which to write said papers. I write papers as a scientist rather regularly and the lack of a decent gender neutral pronoun is frustrating (a good number other languages have them).

And that's not to mention the frustrations for people who don't fall neatly on the ole binary gender tradition (those who are androgyne, agender, intergender, etc.).

Well I am trying to learn a language where it uses gender neutral terms.. and it is a brain buster to get past.

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

<STAFF EDIT>

Language changes all the time. Everyone knows this. What usually happens, from what I can tell, is that the most popular connotations become the denotations of the word eventually over time. That is why the original 1611 King James is a pain to get for just about everyone, because our definition of words is a lot different for their definitions of words. I think it is wrong for them to do it, but I would not be surprised in 100 years that, at least in america, our spin on English will have entirely gender neutral pronouns like other languages. I don't know. the evolution of language seems more arbitrary than calculated.

 

[AHH who-stole-my-name]

Language changes all the time. Everyone knows this. What usually happens, from what I can tell, is that the most popular connotations become the denotations of the word eventually over time. That is why the original 1611 King James is a pain to get for just about everyone, because our definition of words is a lot different for their definitions of words. I think it is wrong for them to do it, but I would not be surprised in 100 years that, at least in america, our spin on English will have entirely gender neutral pronouns like other languages. I don't know. the evolution of language seems more arbitrary than calculated.

I agree with you on the changes, but what I'm talking about is not changes that will benefit only those who would agree with what Captain Kirk did with the test of the kobayashi maru.

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

I agree with you on the changes, but what I'm talking about is not changes that will benefit only those who would agree with what Captain Kirk did with the test of the kobayashi maru.

Does language truly effect the disposition of Christians? It might change the culture, but does culture ultimately matter in a cultural neutral religion like Christianity to begin with?

 

[AHH who-stole-my-name]

Does language truly effect the disposition of Christians? It might change the culture, but does culture ultimately matter in a cultural neutral religion like Christianity to begin with?

This has nothing to do with reflecting any value. It has to do with dealing with issues within our culture that need to be delt with directly. This idea of gender is a personal one to everyone, since this does not confront any issue from any side, it simply pushes it under the table and lets it lie there festering until it boils over in someone elses lap.

 

[DaisyDay]

I will never in my life call a man a woman. Nor a woman a man. "It's just a pronoun! What's the harm!"
When someone tells you to look at a cow and accept it is a tree, there's a problem. When someone tells you to look at a biological male and call it a female, same thing.

It's a matter of courtesy. Miss Manners tells us that we should address people according to their preference - if we care to be polite.

<STAFF EDIT>

 

[Crowns&Laurels]

What it used to be: him and her

What it is now: him, her, shim, half man, half woman, more him than her, more her then him, unman, unwoman, both, and neither

<STAFF EDIT>

 

[Pink Spider]

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[seashale76]

I'm gonna stick with her, him, and they.

This. I am not going to learn new coded language to appease the perpetually offended. These terms are invented, discarded, and replaced with new ones so often I can never remember the definitions to them or even bother to keep up anymore. They'll have to deal with my non-compliance.

 

[seashale76]

That's why I mentioned how Americans insist on spelling it wrong. The correct spelling, and pronunciation, of course, is "aluminium".

It's not wrong in America.

ETA- I especially love our American 'z' words that y'all spell with an 's'. Give me recognize over recognise and realize over realise any day. I pronounce it with a zed, so it should be spelled accordingly.

 

[Blank Stair]

This. I am not going to learn new coded language to appease the perpetually offended. These terms are invented, discarded, and replaced with new ones so often I can never remember the definitions to them or even bother to keep up anymore. They'll have to deal with my non-compliance.

Amen!