Sam Smith announces new pronouns of ‘they’ and ‘them’

[FelixDeCat]

It's simply a matter of being properly respectful of others. My entire life I've been able to address a person I don't know as Mam or Sir, now I guess I have to ask their pronoun before addressing them? Who benefits from this? Why does it have to be complicated? Mam and Sir are respectful terms of address and up until just recently were universal in the US. Suddenly that's not good enough, now I have to play lip service to their perceived gender. At what point am I going to have to start barking like a dog because some nitwit decided he's a golden retriever?

Sir?! How dare you clearly acknowledge my gender!

Im a sentient nonbinary protozoan in human male shape damn it! Acknowledge my uniqueness or Ill raise hell to get attention since I cant get it any other way!

 

[WelshBloke]

It's simply a matter of being properly respectful of others.

That's exactly what this is about!

My entire life I've been able to address a person I don't know as Mam or Sir, now I guess I have to ask their pronoun before addressing them? Who benefits from this? Why does it have to be complicated? Mam and Sir are respectful terms of address and up until just recently were universal in the US. Suddenly that's not good enough, now I have to play lip service to their perceived gender.

Who benefits from it? Well everyone in the conversation benefits from general politeness and courtesy.
How about if you were addressing a foreign person? Would you still be freaked out that they didn't want Sir or Maam?

Its really not complicated either. If you dont know the person just use what you normally would then if they ask for something else just apologise and use that, no biggie.

 

[UglyCasanova]

Who benefits from it? Well everyone in the conversation benefits from general politeness and courtesy.

That’s rich being said on here lol. I wonder how many on here who are so concerned over people being called heir chosen pronouns because it’s the polite thing to do also cure and name call and such to others on here. I know I’ve asked repeatedly for some to be more civil towards me in conversations that went ignored. Ok so be it, but it does show civil discourse isn’t really what they care about either.

 

[WelshBloke]

That’s rich being said on here lol. I wonder how many on here who are so concerned over people being called heir chosen pronouns because it’s the polite thing to do also cure and name call and such to others on here. I know I’ve asked repeatedly for some to be more civil towards me in conversations that went ignored. Ok so be it, but it does show civil discourse isn’t really what they care about either.

So are you bothered about being polite to others or do you just want others to be polite to you? It works both ways in a conversation. You can't be disingenuous and still expect people to treat you with respect.
Also you have to remember that people here have been bickering with each other for literally decades, it's not the real world.

 

[Victorian Gray]

It's simply a matter of being properly respectful of others. My entire life I've been able to address a person I don't know as Mam or Sir, now I guess I have to ask their pronoun before addressing them? Who benefits from this? Why does it have to be complicated? Mam and Sir are respectful terms of address and up until just recently were universal in the US. Suddenly that's not good enough, now I have to play lip service to their perceived gender. At what point am I going to have to start barking like a dog because some nitwit decided he's a golden retriever?

Youbetcha Miss Barky.

 

[UglyCasanova]

So are you bothered about being polite to others or do you just want others to be polite to you? It works both ways in a conversation. You can't be disingenuous and still expect people to treat you with respect.
Also you have to remember that people here have been bickering with each other for literally decades, it's not the real world.

I’m always polite to each other and I don’t think my posts here are any different. I would be polite to any trans or whatever person I came across and would hope they would be the same to me. But I’m absolutely opposed to the government stepping in and mandating that politeness. Especially in areas where it may overlap and contradict with moral or religious beliefs.

And I disagree about the bickering, I’ve been on here for a long time and it’s never been this bad. As more and more people leave or are run off it Just concentrates a particular bitterness and crudeness that we're seeing now. It goes beyond bickering for some users on here, it’s a very consistent targeted vitriol that I don’t think one can really justify. But like I said so be it, if you or anyone else treats me that way I can either be thick skinned or leave.

 

[Jaskalas]

OH MY GOD! NOT THE BINARY STANDARD!
RUN FOR THE HILLS FOLKS!

seriously. What the fuck?

First, I again refer you to the article regarding the lengths we have to go through now to accommodate mental illness.

The Rise of Preferred Pronouns

Second, a picture as you appear unable to grasp the... problem. I don't even have grey hair yet... but I am too old for this shit:

 

[WelshBloke]

First, I again refer you to the article regarding the lengths we have to go through now to accommodate mental illness.

The Rise of Preferred Pronouns

Second, a picture as you appear unable to grasp the... problem. I don't even have grey hair yet... but I am too old for this shit:

Honest question. How many times in your life has this actually happened to you? Not discussing it on a message board but actually face to face with someone who was non binary.

 

[Gabe323]

Both this and the Trans Balls thread have more concern than the last two mass shooting threads combined.

 

[WelshBloke]

Both this and the Trans Balls thread have more concern than the last two mass shooting threads combined.

Well I mean someone saying "Actually I'd rather you called me 'she' if that's ok" is way scarier and more threatening than your kids school getting shot up!

 

[dank69]

It's simply a matter of being properly respectful of others. My entire life I've been able to address a person I don't know as Mam or Sir, now I guess I have to ask their pronoun before addressing them? Who benefits from this? Why does it have to be complicated? Mam and Sir are respectful terms of address and up until just recently were universal in the US. Suddenly that's not good enough, now I have to play lip service to their perceived gender. At what point am I going to have to start barking like a dog because some nitwit decided he's a golden retriever?

This perfectly illustrates how you and others here do not understand the law or this issue.

You DO NOT have to ask anyone anything. You can call anyone anything you like, unless that person informs you that they do not want to be called x, and would prefer to be called y. Even then, you do not have to call them y. You just have to stop calling them x. That's it. On top of that, you are only bound by these rules if you are the person's employer/coworker, landlord, or a government employee. If you have no power over the person you are free to be an asshole and continue to call them x.

 

[pmv]

First, I again refer you to the article regarding the lengths we have to go through now to accommodate mental illness.

The Rise of Preferred Pronouns

Second, a picture as you appear unable to grasp the... problem. I don't even have grey hair yet... but I am too old for this shit:

Have to admit this stuff makes me roll my eyes a bit. Some of it seems rather self-indulgent.

But I don't see why we have to use gendered pronouns at all, most of the time. One gender-neutral option that is used by default unless it's a context where sex is of real importance, would be fine with me. We don't do the weird French thing of giving every object a gender, why not go a bit further and do away with it for people most of the time as well?

I have no idea who Sam Smith is, though this topic was mentioned on the radio today.

 

[nakedfrog]

Hey you’re a Welsh Bloke.
Have you heard of Sam before this thread of much concern?

I'd actually heard of them. One of their songs had enough similarity to a Tom Petty song to get Petty some song-writing credit.

None of this !@#$ existed 10-20 years ago. Now some people want to push it and make us deal with upending the binary standard. At minimum it is a hassle, at worse you'll have people attacked or in jail for not adhering to it. It matters because people are getting in our faces over it.

Yes, it did exist then, and continues to rise to prominence as these people realize they're not alone. Them getting in people's faces over it is generally a reaction to the outsized negative responses on display in this thread.

 

[cytg111]

All I know is there are 10 kinds of people in this world, those that understand binary and those that don't. View attachment 10862

1 that.

 

[OccamsToothbrush]

First, I again refer you to the article regarding the lengths we have to go through now to accommodate mental illness.

The Rise of Preferred Pronouns

Second, a picture as you appear unable to grasp the... problem. I don't even have grey hair yet... but I am too old for this shit:

That's a woefully inadequate chart. What are the proper pronouns for a Haitian hermaphrodite hemophiliac who is technically a male, but who self identifies as a straight female from midnight to noon, as a gay female from noon to midnight and as a non-binary seahorse on every other Friday?

 

[zinfamous]

wow. this thread continues.

7 pages of dickless conservatives still getting all hot and bothered about some young kids (that at least embrace whatever physical issues about themselves), instead of caring about the actual fascism at their door.

 

[zinfamous]

Sir?! How dare you clearly acknowledge my gender!

Im a sentient nonbinary protozoan in human male shape damn it! Acknowledge my uniqueness or Ill raise hell to get attention since I cant get it any other way!

you're a single-celled bacteria that kinda looks human?

I could agree with that.

 

[zinfamous]

This perfectly illustrates how you and others here do not understand the law or this issue.

You DO NOT have to ask anyone anything. You can call anyone anything you like, unless that person informs you that they do not want to be called x, and would prefer to be called y. Even then, you do not have to call them y. You just have to stop calling them x. That's it. On top of that, you are only bound by these rules if you are the person's employer/coworker, landlord, or a government employee. If you have no power over the person you are free to be an asshole and continue to call them x.

But there is concern over being considered an asshole, for taking the asshole route. They wish to continue to be free to be assholes, in this new avenue that God has granted them potential to be greater assholes, but not to be judged by it. I mean...yes, call me an asshole, but please don't judge me! I'm like, the noble asshole, defending the god-given liberty of....other assholes!

and yeah: I do find this stuff annoying, but it's not offending me. It's not putting me out of my way. I honestly do not care. I've never encountered anyone that tosses me shade for not properly identifying their whatevers when I first meet them. They're polite about it, be polite back. It's really fucking simple. It's how adult humans act.

Now if they go into rage mode in reaction to actual strangers not immediately assuming they need some new pronoun, then I don't really see any reason to not be a dick back to them. Like, "my apologizes, I was not informed of the shortened form of the pronoun for 'raging dick asshole.'"

 

[Maxima1]

Merriam on board.

Merriam-Webster adds the nonbinary pronoun 'they' to its dictionary | CNN

Merriam-Webster has officially added the nonbinary pronoun "they" as an entry in its dictionary.

www.cnn.com

 

[Victorian Gray]

wow. this thread continues.

7 pages of dickless conservatives still getting all hot and bothered about some young kids (that at least embrace whatever physical issues about themselves), instead of caring about the actual fascism at their door.

When you weren't looking that fascism slipped into the kitchen and is now making itself a cup of coffee.

 

[zinfamous]

Merriam on board.

Merriam-Webster adds the nonbinary pronoun 'they' to its dictionary | CNN

Merriam-Webster has officially added the nonbinary pronoun "they" as an entry in its dictionary.

www.cnn.com

damn it! now Conservatives will have to call Webster "Fake News!" and can no longer use the "dictionary definition!" argument fallacy when they try to yell at us and point to Websters about how they know what racism really means and no one else does.

very sad.


lol--how long before rightwing nutters start putting out their own conservative dictionary?

 

[brycejones]

Merriam on board.

Merriam-Webster adds the nonbinary pronoun 'they' to its dictionary | CNN

Merriam-Webster has officially added the nonbinary pronoun "they" as an entry in its dictionary.

www.cnn.com

f'ing liberal, commie, fascist, gay turning, commie (commies are really, really, really bad), progressive, un-american, god hating publisher of dictionaries

 

[brycejones]

damn it! now Conservatives will have to call Webster "Fake News!" and can no longer use the "dictionary definition!" argument fallacy when they try to yell at us and point to Websters about how they know what racism really means and no one else does.

very sad.


lol--how long before rightwing nutters start putting out their own conservative dictionary?

Illegal immigrant - see Bad hombre

 

[Victorian Gray]

f'ing liberal, commie, fascist, gay turning, commie (commies are really, really, really bad), progressive, un-american, god hating publisher of dictionaries

Probably owned by that Soros guy.