The use “their” instead of his or her.

[Snagglefoot]

I understand that “their” is becoming acceptable to use instead of his or her. It used to be that “their” referred to multiple people.

I heard it in use lately when a police chief said clearly on a news conference “ The officer drew their weapon .” Have you guys seen this type of use of the word their? I’m not a speech egghead, but wanted to see if this is a thing.

 

[wwillson]

"used with an indefinite third person singular antecedent" So yes, "their" can be used in singular form.

Definition of THEIR

of or relating to them or themselves especially as possessors, agents, or objects of an action; his or her : his, her, its —used with an indefinite third person singular antecedent… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

 

[supton]

Recently I got confused in an article that had this issue. Took me reading it a couple of times to realize the usage of "their" for a non-binary person.

The more I come across it, the more normal it seems.

 

[ecotourist]

"Their" comes easily to the tongue when speaking, but it's not grammatically correct.

Lots of words are becoming common. My least favourite new word is "racialized", which is right up there with "fisher-persons" and "fishers".

 

[Trav]

I understand that “their” is becoming acceptable to use instead of his or her. It used to be that “their” referred to multiple people.

I heard it in use lately when a police chief said clearly on a news conference “ The officer drew their weapon .” Have you guys seen this type of use of the word their? I’m not a speech egghead, but wanted to see if this is a thing.

Woke idiot gibberish. JMO

 

[DriveHard]

Their is the possessive pronoun, as in "their car is red"; there is used as an adjective, "he is always there for me," a noun, "get away from there," and, chiefly, an adverb, "stop right there"; they're is a contraction of "they are," as in "they're getting married."

How to Use They're, There, and Their

They are among the most commonly confused words.

www.merriam-webster.com

 

[DriveHard]

Kick me out for this, but this is how I see it, and I'm going to call you how I see it...

XY chromosomes, you are a he, his, male.

XX chromosomes, you are a she, her, female.

...and don't give me that crap about not being able to tell the difference. If you are of sober mind, you know...no matter how hard they try.

 

[KrisZ]

It's called compelled speech and you guys are getting primed for it. Google Bill C-16 in Canadian charter of rights. They can put peope in front of a human rights tribunal for not using preferred pronouns. After that doesn't work it's fines and jail.

Welcome to the woke culture.

 

[Ed_Flecko]

Kick me out for this, but this is how I see it, and I'm going to call you how I see it...

XY chromosomes, you are a he, his, male.

XX chromosomes, you are a she, her, female.

...and don't give me that crap about not being able to tell the difference. If you are of sober mind, you know...no matter how hard they try.

This would make it pretty easy to decide which sports division you compete in, wouldn't you say? For example, "XY chromosomes, you are a he, his, male."...you compete in the "Mens" sport and "XX chromosomes, you are a she, her, female.", well...that means you compete in the "Women's" sports.



Ed

 

[DriveHard]

This would make it pretty easy to decide which sports division you compete in, wouldn't you say? For example, "XY chromosomes, you are a he, his, male."...you compete in the "Mens" sport and "XX chromosomes, you are a she, her, female.", well...that means you compete in the "Women's" sports.



Ed

agree 100%

 

[DriveHard]

It's called compelled speech and you guys are getting primed for it. Google Bill C-16 in Canadian charter of rights. They can put peope in front of a human rights tribunal for not using preferred pronouns. After that doesn't work it's fines and jail.

Welcome to the woke culture.

IF that happens here in the USA, I will pay a fine, or go to jail.

 

[Ed_Flecko]

agree 100%

Yep. We take a simple blood sample and...SHAZAM...we tell you which sport division you're allowed to compete in! That's MY definition of fair!

Easy peezy...lemon squeezy.



Ed

 

[Pew]

IF that happens here in the USA, I will pay a fine, or go to jail.

Save a cell for me, I'll be right behind!

 

[paulri]

I suppose it can mean that, but it is probably more commonly used when the gender of a person was not clear, as in, "To each their own," as a newer way of saying, "To each his own." "Each student needs to take a paper out of their backpack, etc." So the primary use here isn't that it is a polite way of referring to people who have an identity crisis, but just that it could be referring to either men or women.

Recently I got confused in an article that had this issue. Took me reading it a couple of times to realize the usage of "their" for a non-binary person.

The more I come across it, the more normal it seems.

 

[spasm3]

"Their" comes easily to the tongue when speaking, but it's not grammatically correct.

Lots of words are becoming common. My least favourite new word is "racialized", which is right up there with "fisher-persons" and "fishers".

Their as a singular person means possessive as in; their car or their home.

How do you replace her or him in a sentence?

Give the spare change to him. It would be incorrect to say give the spare change to them , meaning a singular person.

I guess you could say give them their spare change, but now you have to change the entire sentence.

 

[vavavroom]

“ The officer drew their weapon .” Have you guys seen this type of use of the word their? I’m not a speech egghead, but wanted to see if this is a thing.

I can only offer my opinion. If the gender of the officer was unknown to the author or person reporting, the use of "their" was simply lazy and the author should have used "his or her." The use of "their" can also imply that the officer in question doesn't identify with merely one gender but maybe both or three, or maybe is a tweener/twiener? But what does that matter really? It's all unecessarily complicated.

 

[Wolf359]

Kick me out for this, but this is how I see it, and I'm going to call you how I see it...

XY chromosomes, you are a he, his, male.

XX chromosomes, you are a she, her, female.

...and don't give me that crap about not being able to tell the difference. If you are of sober mind, you know...no matter how hard they try.

Ok, you tell me, I forgot what what pat was. This was SNL years ago.

Watch Saturday Night Live Clip: It's Pat: Birthday Party - NBC.com

Watch Saturday Night Live highlight: It's Pat: Birthday Party - NBC.com

www.nbc.com

 

[supton]

Kick me out for this, but this is how I see it. I am going to call you how I see it...

XY chromosomes, you are a he, his, male.

XX chromosomes, you are a she, her, female.

What about intersex persons? Persons whose development doesn't match their chromosomes.

Yep. We take a simple blood sample and...SHAZAM...we tell you which sport division you're allowed to compete in! That's MY definition of fair!

What if they test as XXYY? Link.

 

[Wolf359]

Kick me out for this, but this is how I see it, and I'm going to call you how I see it...

XY chromosomes, you are a he, his, male.

XX chromosomes, you are a she, her, female.

...and don't give me that crap about not being able to tell the difference. If you are of sober mind, you know...no matter how hard they try.

Ok, you tell me, I forgot what what pat was. This was SNL years ago.

Watch Saturday Night Live Clip: It's Pat: Birthday Party - NBC.com

Watch Saturday Night Live highlight: It's Pat: Birthday Party - NBC.com

www.nbc.com

What about intersex persons? Persons whose development doesn't match their chromosomes.

Heinlein wrote a nice short story about that, called All You Zombies.

 

[Ed_Flecko]

What about intersex persons? Persons whose development doesn't match their chromosomes.


What if they test as XXYY? Link.

Easy. The first line says it all..."XXYY syndrome is a sex chromosome anomaly in which males have an extra X and Y chromosome."...

Ed