My family's been from Tennessee since the 1700s. So it's of some concern to me to see
our civilization washing away there.
Not to play this stupid game, but I’m curious: Why does “they/them/their” turn into “xe/xem/xyr” instead of the more logical “zey/zem/zeir”? Also, why isn’t “they/them/their” proper usage for someone who’s trans, whether singular or plural? I mean, purely in terms of how it scans, “xyr” is an abomination.
The whole thing is. If anyone ever asks me what my pronouns are, my answer will be "F*** you." And I'm about as courteous a fellow as you could want to meet. You know perfectly well what 'my' pronouns are. You can see the beard and the scars. Don't bother me with your bullshit.
I do not think that "F*&^" is a pronoun.
ReplyDelete"F*&^"er could be.
ReplyDeleteTennessee's claimed purpose is because the existing pronouns are discriminatory. This person is only wanting to eliminate gender discrimination? This will be fun. Eliminating such discrimination is itself gender discriminatory.
Language is discriminatory. That's the purpose of language--to identify a particular thing or group of things as doing a particular thing or collection of things. Or not doing--a discrimination.
I'll be looking for Donna Braquet (title omitted out of respect for the...person (sorry, that's discriminatory, too)) dumping the first name--that's a horribly gender discriminative noise--and for removing the references from ze's (!?) future publications--those are discriminatory. I'll also be looking for the plagiarism charges that ensue from the lack of attribution.
That's just a start.
Eric Hines
Take this fools journey to it's end and you have language reduced to meaningless grunts.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't grasp the point of that chart. I thought it was going to propose a pronoun to use for "he or she, as the case may be," which would actually be kind of cool, because I purely hate using "they/them" for that purpose, and in informal speech using the formally inclusive "he" just doesn't seem to answer any more. But what's the deal with the list of three options?
ReplyDeleteYa, and every ten years, they change the spelling of Chanukka.
ReplyDeletePseudointellectuals and poseurs at play.
Valerie
It's like this season's hot new chef--it's not a status marker if you don't have to keep up with it constantly.
ReplyDeleteGrim, you ignorant slut :p
ReplyDeleteJust because you have a beard does NOT mean you're not secretly a bearded lady tragically trapped in a womyn's body.
Sheesh.
A person so emotionally fragile that their world is rocked by being addressed using non-preferred pronouns is going to have a terrible time in the real world. Still, it's just social pressure, which normal people ought to be strong enough to resist.
Oh dear Lord. I meant a man's body. All this gender crap is very confusicating - can't keep it all straight.
ReplyDeleteI blame the patriarchy. Or anyone, really. My own mistakes are never my fault :p
No, I shouldn't think they were your fault. They're xyr's fault, obviously.
ReplyDelete"I meant a man's body."
ReplyDeleteThat's funny--I didn't even notice. All the right kinds of words were there, so it made sense in the idiom you were adopting. It's more about the tone, really.
I propose addressing all not-readily-identifiable individuals as "Das." Unless, that happens to be one of their proper names, of course. But it evens things out and will upset everyone involved if they ever bother to look up the meaning.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm feeling cranky today. Grading papers with a cracked tooth will do that to a person.
LittleRed1
They don't intend to bother you all that much, other than acquiring your Leftist associates.
ReplyDeleteThey target the weak, the children, and the lost of college.
There are far more of those than there are of you, technically speaking, so resource wise their recruitment pool is wider.
As for gender roles, Japanese usually has plenty enough that I can use if people really try to push it that far. There's more than one way to invert and insurge English around.
ReplyDeleteNo-o-o-o, the cracked tooth! Do you have a dentist who will see you promptly?
ReplyDeleteOuch! That sounds very painful.
ReplyDeleteHope you feel better soon, Red.
ReplyDelete