Singular they has become the pronoun of choice to replace he and she in cases where the gender of the antecedent – the word the pronoun refers to – is unknown, irrelevant, or nonbinary, or where gender needs to be concealed. I find the whole “word of the year” thing annoying and generally ignore the many news stories based on PR releases by lexicographers and other harmless drudges trying to drum up a little attention, but I have three cheers for this one from Dennis Baron:. The world of the word of the year. As NewNowNext reported earlier this year, Merriam-Webster officially added singular they to its website in September, just months after the trans … Gender and identity activists explains why Merriam-Webster's choice for 2019 word of the year, singular They, is so important. Then last year, the Post Style Guide advocated its use. M erriam-Webster announced Tuesday that it has chosen “they” as the 2019 word of the year.. MARRIOTT MARQUIS, WASHINGTON D.C.—JAN. 8—In its 26th annual words of the year vote, the American Dialect Society voted for they used as a gender-neutral singular pronoun as the Word of the Year for 2015.They was recognized by the society for its emerging use as a pronoun to refer to a known person, often as a conscious choice by a person rejecting the traditional gender binary of he and she. Merriam-Webster's 2019 Word of the Year is "they" — the singular pronoun that has gained popularity as a way to refer to nonbinary people who … Singular "they," the gender-neutral pronoun, has been named the Word of the Year by a crowd of over 200 linguists at the American Dialect Society's annual meeting in … It typically occurs with an unspecified antecedent, as in sentences such as: "Somebody left their umbrella in the office. Runners up for word of the year included quid pro quo, impeach, and crawdad. Previously, singular ‘they’ was added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in September 2019 as a pronoun to be used to refer to a person whose gender identity is nonbinary. The singular 'they' is the word of the year for 2019 Ella Ceron 12/10/2019 A lot has happened in 2019, including plenty of things that will likely set the bar for 2020, and the years to come. But the definition is not perfect. These words saw increases in lookup frequency of 664%, 129%, and 1,200%, respectively. Editor Bill Walsh explained the “singular they” is “the only sensible solution to English’s lack of a gender-neutral third-person singular personal pronoun.” Now, last week, the American Dialect Society voted it the “Word of the Year.” Good Sweat Merriam-Webster has named “they” its word of the year. Singular they is the use in English of the pronoun they or its inflected or derivative forms, them, their, theirs, and themselves (or themself), as an epicene (gender-neutral) singular pronoun. Merriam-Webster officially announced the word ‘they’ as its 2019 Word of the Year. Merriam-Webster announced the pronoun “they” as its word of the year on Tuesday, marking the rise of the use of the venerable plural pronoun to refer to a … Non-binary singular personal pronoun ‘they’ is word of the year This was announced by Miriam-Webster today. Peter Sokolowski, an editor-at-large at Merriam-Webster, told the New York Times that "they" has gotten a remarkable amount of attention this year. Singular they is word of the year for 2015.