US LINGUISTS on Friday chose “they” as their Word of the Decade, recognising the growing use of third-person plural pronouns as a singular form to refer to people who identify their gender as neither entirely male nor entirely female. The same trend was behind the selection of “they” as the Word of the Decade, recognising its growing use to refer to a person whose gender identity is non-binary. The singular use of “they” was previously designated as the 2015 Word of the Year. Other decade nominees considered on Friday included:- “#BlackLivesMatter,” the hashtag used to protest alleged disparities in police use of force against African Americans. The society, founded in 1889 and dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, started selecting its “Word of the Year” in 1991 and since then has picked only two other “Word of the Decade” winners.

Source: New Strait Times January 04, 2020 03:00 UTC