"They", referring to a "single person whose gender identity is nonbinary" has been added to the definition of "they" in the Merriam-Webster dictionary along with three other definitions.
"I knew certain things about … the person I was interviewing.… They had adopted their gender-neutral name a few years ago, when they began to consciously identify as nonbinary — that is, neither male nor female. They were in their late 20s, working as an event planner, applying to graduate school," is the example of using they with the new added definition in a sentence.
In fact, some celebrities already tweeted that "they" are happy to accept the new identity a couple of days ago. British singer Sam Smith wrote on his twitter: "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...”
Screenshot of Sam Smith's tweeter account.
The Merriam-Webster pointed out on its blog that "they/them" has been used as a singular pronoun since the late 1300s, "and that regardless of what detractors say, nearly everyone uses the singular they in casual conversation and often in formal writing."
The news has also sparked heated discussions on Chinese social media. Over 66.13 million netizens read the news and tens and thousands gave it a "thumb up".
Along with "they", more than 530 new words and definitions have been added covering areas like politics, law, games and sports, race, identity, pop culture, psychology, business, finance, and linguistics.
"Words can come and go in a language, but those that show staying power and increasing use need to be recorded and described," Merriam-Webster states.