Non-binary pronoun ‘They’ named 2019 word of the year by Merriam-Webster
THE wordsmiths at Merriam-Webster have revealed their word of the year for 2019, with the non-binary gender pronoun “they” getting the nod.
Merriam-Webster announced the honor on Wednesday, saying that online searches for the word increased by more than 300 percent in 2019.
“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,” a statement from the company read.
“More recently, though, they has also been used to refer to one person whose gender identity is non-binary, a sense that is increasingly common in published, edited text, as well as social media and in daily personal interactions between English speakers.”
There was a spike in searches for the word in September when pop star Sam Smith told fans that their preferred pronouns were “they” and “them.” Smith said the decision came after a “lifetime of being at war with my gender.”
Searches also increased in January thanks to model Oslo Grace, who identifies as non-binary and walks in both men’s and women’s shows.
Another look-up spike occurred in April, when U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, got emotional while talking of her gender-nonconforming child during a House committee hearing as she advocated for LGBT rights legislation.
As a result of the increased awareness around the word being used in this context, Merriam-Webster recently added a new definition to its online dictionary to reflect use of “they” as relating to a person whose gender identity is non-binary.
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Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor at large, told the Associated Press the word -- as well as other non-binary pronouns that have gained traction in recent years -- is “here to stay”.
The runner-ups for this year’s nod included quid pro quo”, “impeach”, and “crawdad,” the latter a word in the title of Delia Evans best-selling novel, “Where the Crawdads Sing.” The Top 10 also included “egregious,” “clemency” and “the”.
“They” follows “justice”, 2018’s word of the year, as well as other recent winners such as “feminism”, “surreal”, “-ism”, and “culture”.