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bwburke94 (Y2: Electric Boogaloo)
2017-10-19 20:51:48

Singular "they" is preferable, and the word you're looking for is "themself".

Avoid "it" or "s/he" unless the work itself uses that term. In fact, we have a trope for "it".

2025: the year it all ends?
crazysamaritan MOD Since: Apr, 2010
2017-10-20 06:54:32

I don't think we really have a policy, but that is my preferred editing strategy.

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
WaterBlap Since: May, 2014
2017-10-21 17:44:52

Never write "themself." Use "themselves." It's singular in meaning but the grammatical number is still plural. (Note that I'm specifically talking about written language. Oral communication is far more informal.)

For a non-pronoun example, look at the words "pants" or "scissors." You wouldn't write "Put your pant on" or "Where is the scissor," even though you're talking about one thing.

Look at all that shiny stuff ain't they pretty
Orbiting Since: Nov, 2014
2017-10-21 18:02:51

^ Really? I know several nonbinary people who use they/them pronouns and use themself as the reflexive, since themselves makes it sounds like they’re multiple people.

WaterBlap Since: May, 2014
2017-10-21 18:19:59

People can call themselves whatever they want regardless of grammar. I don't see how that helps answer the question.

Look at all that shiny stuff ain't they pretty
crazysamaritan MOD Since: Apr, 2010
2017-10-21 20:41:14

Link to Oxford Dictionaries to support Water Blap's statement: Link.

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
wingedcatgirl MOD (Holding A Herring)
2017-10-23 18:39:30

I know of enough people that prefer "themself" that I suspect it won't be long before descriptivists consider it indisputably acceptable.

Suddenly I'm... still rotating Fallen London in my mind even though I've stopped actively playing it.
WaterBlap Since: May, 2014
2017-10-24 07:07:19

Not sure if formal or formal-ish writing will really be affected too much by that. For example, you could still say "He said to Bob and I" even though that wouldn't be correct to write.

Look at all that shiny stuff ain't they pretty
GnomeTitan Since: Aug, 2013
2017-10-24 08:56:44

^^Descriptivists don't set norms; they describe what's common usage. This wiki is a bit more fomal than to accept everything that's common usage and tends to defer to the style guides.

Candi Since: Aug, 2012
2017-10-24 15:30:46

(Nods) "Casual" doesn't mean using every bit of slang and new use that comes along. It means language that wouldn't past muster in a thesis. :p (Particularly since so much slang and attempted new use burns out fairly quickly.)

When it becomes part of the more widely accepted lexicon of grammar, that's when it can be used. That's when you know it's sticking.

Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. -Terry Pratchett
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