ALT TEXT:

  • Panel 1: A person with the text “Singular ‘they’” written on them smiling with open arms.
  • Panel 2: “Singular ‘They’” beaten up by others who said, “Singular they is ungrammatical. It’s too confusing,” “How can anyone use plural pronouns for singular,” and “Every pronoun should only have one purpose.”
  • Panel 3: “You” hiding from the mob who was beating “Singular ‘They’”
  • Panel 4: “German ‘Sie’” hiding with even more fear next to “You”
  • MystikIncarnateEnglish
    2·
    11 months ago

    I don’t disagree with you, but the changes I tend to have a problem with, as samus12345 pointed out, is that it robs the statement of clarity. I just want language, any language, to be as specific as it can, so that misunderstandings are minimized because the words used have specific definitions, which are all similar. Instead of the contradictory definitions many words seem to have.

    It’s by far not the majority of words that have this problem, but it’s definitely a non-trivial number of them that do.

    • power@thelemmy.clubEnglish
      41·
      11 months ago

      There is no such thing as a specific as possible language. Language is literally JUST ambiguity. Again, every word you use right now was complained about when its definitions slowly shifted in the same way you complain about words “losing their clarity”. That’s called LANGUAGE CHANGE.