After having multiple conversations with parents about their non-binary children, I have to admit that constantly using they/them gets confusing as hell. This parent has multiple children and I frequently couldn’t tell if they were referring to their children collectively, or to the non-binary child individually.
I have only one son and I sometimes find myself calling him by the dog’s name. 🙁
Potential solutions:
- while saying “they”, hold up one or two fingers depending on if the word is singular or plural (also possible in emoji: ☝️/✌️)
- mutter “singular” or “plural” under your breath before saying “they”
- replace plural they with “theys” or “thy’all”, à la “yous” or “y’all”
- pronounce singular they as /θeɪ/ and plural they as /ðeɪ/
Wait, what is the difference in pronunciation for θeɪ vs ðeɪ?
The same difference between “ether” and “either”, or “thistle” and “this’ll”. Voiceless θ, voiced ð.
Isn’t it the difference between the ‘th’ sound in they(ð) and through(θ)?
or that and thatch.
Oh I LOVE the last one.
And then imagine being one of the basically 7 billion people whose first language, isn’t english, but are forced to use it because of, the internet. This type of let’s be real malicious syntax is a huge issue.
“Oh those poor, poor ESLs, who are far too stupid to learn the intricacies of Our Tongue, surely we must dumb it down for their sake!”
Listen, as the child of an immigrant and a language learner in xyr own right, the problem with people being forced to learn a complex language is not that the language is complex but that people are forced to learn it. Making the world accessible for ESLs or non-Anglophones does not mean berating native speakers of English as “malicious” for developing their own language to suit their own needs.
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