[Ads-l] Should ze be in the dictionary?

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Thu Oct 20 15:49:24 UTC 2016


> On Oct 20, 2016, at 11:05 AM, MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY RDECOM AMRDEC (US) <william.d.mullins18.civ at MAIL.MIL> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
>> 
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>> Not everybody likes these invented pronouns, but a lot of people are using them. 
> 
> Is this a true statement -- are, in fact, "a lot of people" using these pronouns?  I see a lot of people saying "these are substitute pronouns which may be used and which you should accept", but I've never met anyone who wished to be referred to as "ze", et al.  (admittedly, I don't run in circles where this discussion ever comes up).

There are definitely individuals (e.g. Yale undergraduates) who have expressed a preference for "they" as their personal pronoun (to coin a phrase), but I don't know if that's part of the "al."  Haven't encountered any who have opted for "ze", "co", "e", or other "words that failed" as Dennis B. used to call them.

LH

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