Language, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, is now a weapon in what I believe are called “culture wars”.
I’m not at war. Indeed I think much of this “war” is really hysterical hyperbole from people desperately trying to find something to be offended by so they can fire off gushy, yet aggressive, tweets drawing attention to what a right-on progressive thinker they are.
I preferred the long ago days when people were respectful to each other. Even those they disagreed with.
Pop singer Sam Smith describes himself as non-binary. This means people who don’t identify as one gender. The pronouns they use to describe themselves are they/them, rather than he/him or she/her.
Sam, I don’t mind how you refer to yourself. Be happy my friend. Live your life, good luck to you.
I am, however, interested in the precise use of language so want to examine syntax. If I said: “he defines his gender”, Sam wouldn’t like my use of pronouns. I, with a different agenda, believe addressing people in polite English shows respect. So how would I write that sentence in a way acceptable to both Sam and me?
If I said: “They define their gender”, these are third person plural pronouns. I could be accused of implying Sam has a dissociative identity disorder.
“Them defines them’s gender” again uses third-person plurals.
“You defines you’s gender” is nonsense. “You” is a second person plural so I would use it only if directly addressing Sam, and “you’s” isn’t a recognised word in English.
“Person defines person’s gender” brings us back to nouns but doesn’t adequately describe the subject or object of the sentence.
You will have noticed the difficulty is most apparent when referring to one person. There are sentences, though, which have to identify one person.
“It defines its gender” is at least a singular pronoun, but is rude. That’s what I’m trying to avoid.
“Sam defines Sam’s gender” is imprecise. It could refer to two people named Sam.
It’s difficult, isn’t it.
There have been proposals for new, non gender-specific pronouns. Suggestions include: ey, per, sie, ve and zie.
“Ey defines eyself”. Oh come on, it looks silly. I’m reminded of Eeyore.
None of these alternative pronouns have caught on, and that’s no surprise. People care more about virtue-signalling than about actual hard thinking to find a logical, precise, and polite way to solve the grammar and syntax problems.
I’m offended that no one cares about precise language any more. Who will be outraged on my behalf and fire off (grammatically accurate) gushy tweets about it?
Word of the week
Uberty (noun)
Abundance; fertile growth. EG: “There is a uberty of words, phrases, people, and policies to be offended by, if you use some creativity when approaching the task of looking for them.”
Read the latest Oh my word! every Saturday in The Courier. Contact me at sfinan@dctmedia.co.uk
