2015 Word of the Year is singular “They”; a Solution to English’s Lack of a Gender-neutral Third-person Singular Personal Pronoun

Just learned about this while watching the January 10 edition of “CBS Sunday Morning”: Earlier this month, the American Dialect Society voted for they used as a gender-neutral singular pronoun as its 2015 Word of the Year!

 

In other words, says “CBS Sunday Morning,” it’s no longer “he went to the car” or “she went to the car.” Instead, it’s “they went to the car." It’ll be worth your while to read the American Dialect Society’s full explanation on their webpage (at

http://www.americandialect.org/2015-word-of-the-year-is-singular-they).
 

Most notable for me was the following comment by Bill Walsh, copy editor for the Washington Post: “(It’s) the only sensible solution to English’s lack of a gender-neutral third-person singular personal pronoun.”

 

© Copyright 2016 V.J. Singal