The Dictionary Really Wants You To Use People's Correct Pronouns

A lot has happened in 2019, including plenty of things that will probably set the bar for 2020, and the years to come. The word of the year, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is one of these last things: On Tuesday (December 10), the dictionary announced its word of the year is the singular pronoun "they."


This isn't to mention that "they" is a new word, or maybe that its use by people across gender identities is new. English famously lacks a gender-neutral singular pronoun to correspond neatly with singular pronouns like everyone or someone, and as a consequence they has been used for this purpose for over 600 years," Merriam-Webster wrote in the press release for the launch. In September, the dictionary updated its listing for "they" to include a definition that affirmed people whose pronouns are "they" and "them," thus correcting a significant amount erasure from a work of record, and making it that much more hard for people to argue that denying someone's identity is a matter of grammar rather than bigotry.


People and communities living behind the limiting gender binary of the male "he" and female "she" have existed and thrived for millennia; that increasingly people right now feel comfortable in establishing their pronouns and identity with a broader public speaks to the ways in which society is slowly although steadily waking up to the responsibility of affirming and honoring each person's identity.


Merriam-Webster listed other words like "impeach," "clemency," and "tergiversations" — case in point, six of the best 10 words of the year were related to the political imbroglio playing out in Washington, D.C., Almost day-to-day. Nevertheless "they" nabbed the best spot because editors found people expressed a continued interest in using it it appropriately.


"Although our lookups are usually driven by events in the news, the dictionary is also a primary resource for intelligence about language itself, and the shifting use of they has been the subject of increasing study and commentary in recent years," editors wrote, adding that "lookups for they increased by 313% in 2019 over the previous year." Such interest may have been further sustained by Sam Smith's Instagram post about their pronouns, along with a similar Instagram post by Atypical star Brigitte Lundy-Paine, and the continued rise of Pose star Indya Moore.


However the conversation can only do so much good on the page of a dictionary, either physical or digital. Sort in attempt to continue to affirm and uplift nonbinary and gender-variant people, as well as everyone else in the LGBTQ+ community, it's critical to not assume a person's pronouns once you first meet them — sharing your own any time introducing yourself is a solid way to foster a safe space. And creating a concerted task to remember someone's pronouns matters, and prevents further erasure as a whole.