Most people aren’t saying a single person can be multiple. What folks who use they/them/theirs are saying is that those words have been used as a pronoun to address either a singlular person or a group of people for the last 600 years.
If you don’t like it either lobby English speakers to adopt a language academy which defines what is or isn’t English, or switch to a language that works like that.
I’m talking about the new term. Not as in a group of people. Does that make any sense?
I understand the use of a group of people. But what I mean is I was watching a TV show and a girl, asked to be called as they/them instead of she/her.
Example:
What is she doing here. (Referred to one human being the is a female)
What is they doing here. (Since Female asked to be called they it’s supposed to still be referred to one single human but as multiple)
I didn’t mean it in a mean way, I was just curious. I am not a native speaker, I was just trying to understand the change.
English can be confusing. Here’s an example that might help -
In French, if you’re speaking to someone formally, you say “vous”, but if you’re speaking informally, you say “tu”.
Both translate as “you”, but “vous” is also used to address a group of people in French - so “vous” can refer to an individual, or a group, depending on context.
Some English speakers believe that the word “they” should only be used to refer to a group, rather than to a person whose gender is not being defined in the sentence. This is an overly rigid approach to language, because language is continuously evolving along with culture.
More importantly, this “English purism” approach is frequently used as an excuse to reject a transgender person’s preferred way of being seen. You’ll find the people who lean on this “argument” don’t typically care much about language purism in other contexts.
My two sats - hope it helps 🙏
But chill, I respect everyone’s opinion. I was just curious.
If i see the sun yellow, and you see it orange that’s fine. I don’t mind. 🤙
