‘They’ is named as word of the decade after people including singer Sam Smith ditch ‘he’ or ‘she’ and declare themselves gender-neutral
- Linguists at American Dialect Society have named ‘they’ as word of the decade
- Word voted on by a collection of linguists at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside
- Comes after Sam Smith asked fans to refer to them using ‘they/them’ pronouns
American linguists have named the personal pronoun ‘they’ which is used by people who identity as gender non-binary as the word of the decade.
The singular pronoun, which was seen as a ‘vital indicator of social trends’ in an annual poll by the American Dialect Society on January 3 in New Orleans, also saw voters select ‘(my) pronouns’ – such as she/her, he/him or they/them – as their word of the year for 2019.
The decision comes after British singer Sam Smith, 27, said they had been ‘at war’ with themselves over how to define their gender and asked fans to refer to them using ‘they/them’ pronouns after identifying as non-binary.
Chair of the American Dialect Society’s new words committee, Ben Zimmer, said: ‘When a basic part of speech like the pronoun becomes a vital indicator of social trends, linguists pay attention.
Linguists at the American Dialect Society have named the personal pronoun ‘they’ as the word of the decade. It comes months after the singer Sam Smith (pictured) said they were non-binary
‘The selection of ‘(my) pronouns’ as Word of the Year speaks to how the personal expression of gender identity has become an increasing part of our shared discourse.
‘That trend is also reflected in singular ‘they’ being chosen as word of the decade, with a growing recognition of the use of they for those whose identities don’t conform to the binary of he and she.’
The word of the decade was voted on by a collection of linguists, etymologists, historians, writers and students at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside in Louisiana on Friday in a tradition dating back to 1991.
According to the society, their word of the year can be any ‘vocabulary item’, word or phrase, that has been particularly prominent or notable over the previous 12 months.
The poll comes months after singer Sam Smith took to social media to admit they had been ‘at war’ with themselves for ‘a lifetime’ over how to define their gender in September 2019.
In a series of tweets the pop star wrote: ‘Today is a good day so here goes. I’ve decided I am changing my pronouns to THEY/THEM after a lifetime of being at war with my gender I’ve decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out…
‘I’m so excited and privileged to be surrounded by people that support me in this decision but I’ve been very nervous about announcing this because I care too much about what people think but f*** it!
‘I understand there will be many mistakes and mis gendering but all I ask is you please please try. I hope you can see me like I see myself now. Thank you.’
After coming out at non-binary, the Grammy Award-winning singer also detailed their experiences with their sexuality in an insightful interview with British GQ magazine.
In September 2019, the Grammy Award winning singer took to social media to admit they had been ‘at war’ with themselves for ‘a lifetime’ over how to define their gender
The British singer Sam Smith took to Twitter to announce they were changing their pronouns to they/them
During their interview they said: ‘Ever since I was a little boy, ever since I was a little human, I didn’t feel comfortable being a man really. I never really did.
‘Some days I’ve got my manly side and some days I’ve got my womanly side, but it’s when I’m in the middle of that switch that I get really, really depressed and sad.
‘Because I don’t know who I am or where I am or what I’m doing, and I feel very misunderstood by myself. I realised that’s because I don’t fit into either.’
According to Stonewall, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights charity in the United Kingdom, non-binary is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity does not sit comfortably with ‘man’ or ‘woman’.