Merriam Webster Adds 'They' As Gender-Neutral Pronoun to The Lexicon Days After Singer Sam Smith Declares Himself Non-Binary

Merriam-Webster, the oldest dictionary publisher in America has officially added 'they' as a singular nonbinary pronoun. The word 'they' in the dictionary can be "used to refer to a single person whose gender identity is nonbinary". The recognition of 'they' as a gender-neutral pronoun comes amidst an increase in the number of people who do not identify themselves as either male or female. The addition by the dictionary comes shortly after pop singer Sam Smith, who identifies as genderqueer and nonbinary, announced that they were embracing the gender-neutral pronouns 'they' and 'them'.

Although the usage is praised for being more socially acceptable towards people with varying sexual preferences, it often gets criticised for being grammatically incorrect.

Check Out Merriam-Webster's Tweet on The New Addition:

While making the announcement on Instagram, Sam Smith towards the end writes, "I understand there will be many mistakes and misgendering, but all I ask is you please please try." A Glossary of Terms Associated With the LGBTQ Community.

Here is Sam Smith's Instagram Post:

The entry was recently made during the addition of 533 words to the online dictionary. While including the new usage, Merriam-Webster its blog wrote, "We will note that ‘they’ have been in consistent use as a singular pronoun since the late 1300s; that the development of singular ‘they’ mirrors the development of the singular ‘you’ from the plural ‘you’, yet we don’t complain that singular ‘you’ is ungrammatical; and that regardless of what detractors say, nearly everyone uses the singular ‘they’ in casual conversation and often in formal writing." The move by the dictionary was praised by The Human Rights Campaign, the American Civil Liberties Union and GLAAD. Many other advocacy groups also applauded the move.

It is not just Merriam-Webster who has made recognition, but lexicographers and linguists have too considered "they" as a singular pronoun. The American Dialect Society chose it as its 2015 word of the year.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 18, 2019 02:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).