PETA demands personal pronouns for animals
And in Bible translations, no less: PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is calling for a more animal-friendly update to the Bible. The group is asking translators of the New...
View ArticleWhoville vs. Whomville
The always amusing Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post writes about allegations that the word “whom” is doomed. The Whos down in Whoville are perfectly safe. But the Whoms, down in Whomville, having...
View Article“So what’s your name and preferred gender pronoun?”
According to a new code of etiquette, it’s not enough to ask someone’s name. You also need to ask, “what’s your PGP?” That is, your “preferred gender pronoun.” The choices may be “he” or “she” or...
View ArticleGender diversity and language
You thought it was complicated using “non-sexist” pronouns, avoiding the generic “he” for “he or she” or using “they” as a non-gendered singular? Consider the travails of a binary language in a world...
View Article“What are your preferred pronouns?”
In the Disco era, the opening get-to-know-you line was “What’s your sign?” Before that, it was “What do you do for a living?” Or “where are you from?” Now in our gender-fluid era we are told to ask...
View ArticleA Solution to the Pronoun Problem
At this moment in the long history of the language, English speakers and writers are struggling with pronouns. What pronoun should we use to refer to a noun that could apply equally to a man or to a...
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