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Singular they is Web of Language Word of the Year: <a href="http://bit.ly/1MFkynj" class="">http://bit.ly/1MFkynj</a>
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<div class=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Singular </span><em style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" class="">they </em><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">is
word of the year for 2015. A common-gender third-person pronoun, singular </span><em style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" class="">they </em><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">has
been popular in English speech and writing for over 650 years. Although frequently classified by purists as ungrammatical, its use seems undiminished, and it may even be on the rise because it fills an important linguistic niche. In recent years, more and
more English speakers have sought a gender-neutral alternative to pronouns that express the traditional male/female binary, turning either to invented pronouns like </span><em style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" class="">xe </em><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">and </span><em style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" class="">zie</em><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">,
or to that old stand-by, singular </span><em style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" class="">they. </em><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Because
singular </span><em style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" class="">they</em><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""> has witnessed
a dramatic rehabilitation over the past year</span><em style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" class="">, </em><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">the
Web of Language Distinguished Usage Panel unanimously chose to honor it as word of the year for 2015. . . .</span></div>
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<div class=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Read the rest of the post at </span><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" class=""><span style="font-size: 11px;" class=""><a href="https://illinois.edu/blog/view/25/280996" class="">https://illinois.edu/blog/view/25/280996</a></span></font></div>
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