Dictionary chooses gender-neutral 'they' as word of 2019
Sam Smith came out as non-binary in September and asked to be referred to by "they" and "them".
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The use of "they" to describe someone who does not identify as male or female gained ground on Tuesday (December 10), when U.S. dictionary Merriam-Webster picked it as the word of 2019.
Merriam-Webster said searches for that use of the word, which was added to its dictionary in September, had increased by more than 300% this year as more and more people identify as nonbinary - neither a man nor a woman.
The Oxford English Dictionary and Dictionary.com both published articles online in 2018 saying the singular "they" was grammatically correct and had been used since at least the late 14th century.
"The shifting use of "they" has been the subject of increasing study and commentary in recent years and especially in the past year. Look-ups for "they" increased by 313 percent in 2019. This curiosity is remarkable for a venerable old pronoun and it’s a consequence of shifts in the way the word "they" is used," said Merriam-Webster’s Editor-at-Large Peter Sokolowski in a statement (https://www.merriam-webster.com/video/2019-word-of-the-year-behind-the-scenes).
The shift comes as increasing numbers of people elect to use a gender-neutral pronoun to describe themselves, often stating that preference on social media accounts and in the workplace.
Singer Sam Smith came out as non-binary in September and asked to be referred to by "they" and "them".
