LINGUIST reacts to NEOPRONOUNS of TikTok

[@LanaMarie]

Off topic, but since many of you have been asking about the Hamilton / Meowington 🐱 cat rap parody: kzbin.infoQFFeG8HiM1I?feature=share

[@Booby_toesdays]

This is hateful content poorly disguised as analysis.

[@macbird-lt8de]

Would you please tell what is your native tongue? I am asking because languages have various amounts of gender, and I’m guessing German, although I didn’t detect any accent at all until you admitted esl. Although I should known you are not native American because a slight space in the teeth would have been changed for an american in the childhood.

[@LanaMarie]

@@macbird-lt8de it's slovenian. altho i did study german too, so there might be some linguistic cross-influence there :)

[@astralclub5964]

If you spent a year or two in the Midwest US, your accent would be undetectable! I estimated your accent was Eastern European.

[@astralclub5964]

@@Booby_toesdaysTwenty years from now they’ll be 2020’s parties and everyone will have fun with the old neo-pronoun fad!

[@jorijoestar4998]

I feel bad for non-native speakers who are trying to figure out what the heck is going on.

[@michellemiller7818]

English is practically the only language that doesn’t add gender to EVERY noun 😂😂

[@ian-flanagan]

@@michellemiller7818It’s really not…

[@minniemin1324]

That's why I just avoid them. I'm not getting any unnecessary headaches

[@monikakrukowska4231]

I'm doing just fine, thank you!

[@rickythe2nd63]

It's quite sad, and I encourage native as well as non-native English speakers to ignore the asinine, ridiculous, fake pronoun fad - as I do.

[@taylorludwig32]

"Neopronouns are as intuitive as jumping off a cliff!" That line right there is where she sold me! 💯🙌🔥🔥🔥🤣

[@kailarutherford8309]

Hahaha me too! Iconic

[@truSN8P]

Absolutely me too!!! (without hashtag!)

[@johnbower7452]

I just totally agree, it's all got very stupid. The lunatics have truly taken over the asylum.

[@Anythingforfreedom]

How much did she get? When she sold you

[@taylorludwig32]

@Anythingforfreedom a good laugh, and an honest well thought out perspective! 💃💃

[@JoeyPsych]

The thing that frustrates me most with these neo pronoun kids, is that they are incredibly gatekeepy about who is and isn't allowed to have pronouns. When they want me to call them "demon" or "lemon", I have to take them serious, even though it's completely absurd. But when I counter them and tell them that I only will call them that if they call me "super god", all of a sudden, they refuse to take me serious. I mean, what the hell makes your insane request more valid than mine? either we both use our requested pronouns, or we use neither, choice is up to you.

[@funforall9741]

You shall call me lone wolf shadow of darkness, that is the price of calling yourself something you are not

[@CrummyVCR]

Because you're not being clever enough with it. To you, you hear what they say and its absurd, so you grossly over correct with your approach, of course they are going to shut down and get weird. Even if they are not genuine they are attempting to at least act it in proportion. Don't be frustrated, just use better tact and you'll see better results. :)

[@AWZool]

@@CrummyVCR You can play this game well or poorly, but the only smart choice is not to play at all.

[@SneedTechIndustries-gf5hn]

Because it's a social credit system to feel special. If something is used to make people feel unique or special it will inherently be gatekept.

[@JoeyPsych]

@@CrummyVCR You're telling me that I should stoop down to their level? No! If they want respect, they have to earn it, and if they claim it, I will not give it at all. First be normal gain my respect, and only THEN can you can expect me to bend a bit for your weirdness. This is the normal human way, but kids these days have been brought up in a way that they think the world revolves around them, they see themselves as the centre of the universe, and they need to learn that they are just an insignificant part of humanity, and they need to adapt to the norm, before they can break out of the box and show their uniqueness. I don't mind people who have their own style or idealism, but the people who are themselves and get no negative feedback, generally have proven themselves not to be self-centred ego's that expect people to tend to their wishes on a whim.

[@matthewcooke4011]

I'm not a linguist, but surely the whole point of a pronoun is that it's a short generic way to refer to someone without constantly repeating their name, which is cumbersome and awkward. So "pronouns" such as lemon, demon, candle, rat, etc, are not actually pronouns (even if they declare them to be)... they're just nicknames. You wouldn't say "Ellie went to the shop because Ellie wanted to by a croissant for Ellie's-self, but Ellie was disappointed because they'd sold out and there was nothing else Ellie wanted." Pronouns are used precisely to avoid that sort of sentence. So surely use "lemon" prounouns (for example) are the antithesis of this. I don't know... like I said, I'm not a linguist.

[@wesjones6370]

And I would sa: "Elle went to the shop because Elle wanted to by a croissant for herself..." as that is grammatically, logically, and biologically correct. To force others to reject reality in favour of one's politically correct speech is the act of an authoritarian, not a tolerant person. 2+2=4, not 5....no matter what "the party" says.

[@BooksAndShitButNotLiterally]

@@wesjones6370 you'd soon get tired of talking like that....

[@VyChazen]

Random but some languages speak in third person so it does work in other languages.

[@matthewcooke4011]

@@wesjones6370 I'm not saying it's grammatically or logically incorrect. It's just considered awkward and cumbersome (in English at least) and one of the main uses of pronouns it to avoid this. So my point is that, to me, "neopronouns" like Lemon don't really serve as pronouns.

[@ideamachine39]

💯

[@amusedbemused7223]

You nailed it with “use a nickname”- that’s all this neopronoun gobbledygook is, nicknames with a lot more steps.

[@E.C.Animation]

True but the difference is a nickname is used to talk TO someone. Pronouns are used to talk ABOUT someone. So essentially, people who want to use these "neo-pronouns" want to control how OTHER people talk ABOUT them. So it's about control.

[@ghostinyourcloset]

@@E.C.Animation i guess? but tbh, they could just say "hey, instead of using 'he/she/they' can you use my nickname instead and not use pronouns?" which i think would be easier instead of shortening words to behave similar to pronouns.

[@samlafontaine8552]

​@@ghostinyourclosetwhen I was trans this is what I did, altho I also didn't care what people thought I was, I was just Sam and still am xD but I figured out I'm just weird not trans lol now I'm an androgynous woman if anything and happy with my journey of this wack roller coaster xD

[@kitty79532]

I've met so many people with strange and very unique nicknames and no one cares. No one caring is exactly why they want it to be more than a nickname. making it there pronoun they get to pretend they are special and unique. It's ridiculous.

[@thesisypheanjournal1271]

Actually it goes a lot deeper than that. It is part of what’s called queer Marxism. What they do is use provocative sexual and gender related behaviors in order to de-stabilize society. These people are far crazier than you think they are. They actually think that the whole idea of mothers and fathers is an exploitative concept created by capitalists in order to trick hapless people into raising a new generation of workers to exploit. They think if they get rid of the idea that male and female are a real thing that this will liberate them from the cruelExploitation of capitalists and free them to live in something that looks a lot like brave New World, which they consider utopian.

[@Dave-uw2ul]

The fact that anyone has their free right to stipulate ways by which they would like to be referred to does not spill over into any kind of obligation for others to actually comply... Really key point. My main obstacle would be remembering.. again, no obligation to remember. Most people forget a name immediately after being introduced to someone. I've never yet been stressed out by that or felt humiliated by having to repeat my name if it's subsequently needed. It's unexcitingly normal.

[@Nothereforit174]

It does unless you want to be fussed out and very rudely so and then you’ll complain about it. You don’t determine someone else’s identity for them so you either shut tf up and don’t speak to people or you learn to properly identify them. Everything you’d use to assume and name someone is based in white supremacy. You will not say I live in a free land but then that white people and the assimilated get to force white ideas about gender that my ancestors in the land you’ve colonized and the land my others were enslaved from never agreed with. So if I say refer to me as xe/xer for our conversation, you can do it and politely correct yourself if you mess up or I get to embarrass you and remind you why white supremacy won’t be tolerated by me on stolen land. I apply that logic to any of you. I’ll refuse service, kick someone out of a building, I don’t care. My humanity isn’t up for negotiation for white comfort. It’s like when you force nicknames on marginalized people because you refuse to learn our names when they aren’t easy for you because you’re lazy and think others can learn entire languages but you can’t learn to say a new pronoun or name. It’s unacceptable. Yeah you can do whatever you want but you also have to face the consequences that come with it because once you denigrate someone, you are no longer owed kindness. Look I get neo pronouns are different but in the grand scheme you meet like one person with them every blue moon and it’s similar to learning to say a pronoun in another language. You do it for that interaction and move on. Acting as if you’ll suddenly have a bunch of peers to remember all these names for us an exaggeration used for you to treat people in a way you already were planning to. And I’m not mean because I don’t tolerate bigots. I just realized pretending you’re kind, reasonable people doesn’t work so might as well return the energy. This is ultimately about you having the capacity to recognize someone’s identity because if this got you, I have a feeling you’re the type to tell people “they/them” isn’t okay when it’s not new and you know English has vernacular and variations regardless so it’s not a concrete language. You choose to make someone feel like they’re subhuman or never going to be recognized as who they know themselves to be because you don’t care if it damages their mental health or is the same rhetoric used to kill gender queer people. It’s shameful

[@Dangansona]

You being able to speak on someone using “lemon” as a pronoun, with a straight face while staying educational. Wow. That is *deeply* impressive.

[@davidthedeaf]

The lemon person also did a video using other environmental terms as neo pronouns with even worse success.

[@Princess__Buttercup]

I subscribed immediately after finishing this video. She is really impressive!

[@graemepatterson]

Maybe it should be a themon or a lewomon? 🤣🤣

[@stejer211]

So, in this case, is it permissible to demand extensive repairs or reimbursement because your new girlfriend turns out to be a lemon?

[@Princess__Buttercup]

@@stejer211 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@PedanticTwit]

"Fisherman" is _already_ gender neutral, because the "man" component in this case means "person", as it did in Old English.

[@zeitgeist7788]

Finally someone who gets it! 👏

[@aurnamii]

THATS what I was thinking

[@irishcajun85]

Just like ‘mankind’ represents everyone. It’s another word for ‘human’.

[@helixxia9320]

exactly

[@rathelmmc3194]

Honestly I never even thought the word was suffixed anyway. I always took it as "fisherman" being the entire word so removing man and adding anything else makes no sense to me. Like I've never heard anyone refer to themselves as a fisherwoman. It's always fisherman.

[@juliuspleaser4675]

“Lemons smile” isolated from all this madness is actually an adorable assertion 😅 I wanna believe that lemons smile 🥹

[@Hopespringseternal]

I love to hear educated people explain reality.

[@crystalwaters8852]

❤

[@lightwarrior432]

💯‼️

[@whollymindless]

I'd much rather not have smart people waste their time on it - and "others" wasting everyone else's time on this.

[@XpeteypoisonX]

I love to hear non-educated people who can't grasp how English has evolved over time in many different settings in many different ways--especially from Old English--and they think a few cases of new pronoun usage are worst thing to happen to the English language. The same people who complain about African American Vernacular English for not being "proper", I might add...

[@lightwarrior432]

@@XpeteypoisonX #yourbrainwashed ….POISONED 🧠🫀😝

[@thomasruhm1677]

At least they make it so complicated that most people won’t use it.

[@tarawells1553]

And then cry about it if you get it wrong like your meant to know what’s going in their brain. I’m actually wondering if they have one.

[@thomasruhm1677]

Yes, you are right.@@tarawells1553

[@theharbingerofconflation]

As a person working a 9-5 I am continuously amazed at what people have the time to make up. I guess expressive face paint and dressing like an extra from Rocko's Modern Life is not enough for some people

[@crzyprplmnky]

The people in the video I'm guessing are school kids which is why they have so much time and unclear sense of identity. I think there's absolutely nothing wrong with creativity like this, except there's social media where I stead of talking to the people around you with what you're doing, you're telling strangers on the Internet en masse, which looks strange as fuck

[@theStepFamm]

@@crzyprplmnky "absolutely nothing wrong" ? define wrong? the lady in the video just proved them all wrong over and over. how is it educational to encourage being incorrect as "Creativity". get real dingus

[@crzyprplmnky]

@@theStepFamm School kids do in fact get grammar and syntax wrong sometimes! Not only that but maths, geography, history, science. Of course they're getting things wrong. I was speaking to the broader point that there's some crisis within society that kids are experimenting with neo pronouns. Kids do weird stuff while trying to figure out their identities; they haven't fully formed an identity yet. It's been that way since the dawn of time. What's new is that they're able to broadcast this experimentation en masse to the entire planet instead of just the kids around them. I hope that's clearer!

[@snap.-_-]

​@@theStepFammwho does using neo pronouns hurt?

[@thestoriedcoyote3668]

Wouldn't the point of language be to provide a common and generally agreed upon set of words and grammar so that we can understand each other? People just inventing 100's of their own pronouns, which no one else understands, might make them feel special, but it's a degradation of language and just makes it harder for us all to understand each other. Even They/Them, my brain struggles with because it's poor grammar. So for people that think they need those pronouns, I usually just use their names and avoid the whole thing. Like you said, changes to language should be organic, feel natural, not forced on people. It feels like this attempt to force it will backfire at some point...

[@notme1255]

Exactly. That's also the entire point behind this "movement". It's to isolate people from each other, even native English speakers from other native English speakers. If you can't communicate properly and words have no real meaning, then you can't tackle the bigger issues in your community or country like for example, uniting together against evil monopolies, war-hungry governments or corrupt politicians. The "elites" love the pronoun people because this is what they want.

[@sonjawalkerreactionscommen3501]

Exactly. It hurts my brain too! I met someone personally who used they/them, and because they went by the name, D, I would just say D most of the time. Like, "Going by what D said..."

[@apersonwhodraws]

​@sonjawalkerreactionscommen3501 ok but how hard is it to say they want this it's really easy

[@Syaniiti]

@@apersonwhodraws Because they is a plural, then you need to explain you mean they singular not they a group of two or more previously identified people.

[@apersonwhodraws]

@Syaniiti the english language is evolving and we need to evolve with it. It is not hard to say "they want this" "get them that"

[@GeneSysFNLT]

As a non-native English speaker, all these neo-pronouns confuse the entire English language for me. English is already hard enough! 😭

[@MochiFam]

Don’t learn it. I’m a native and my advice is to avoid it. Calling people people they and it like that is just wrong 😂

[@steelnutz7464]

As a native English speaker, I believe neo-pronouns are completely incomprehensible and should never be validated. Language should remove ambiguity from an interaction, not introduce it.

[@TwoBs]

Don’t worry about it. Learn the basics and stick with it - ditch the neo-pronouns and don’t even give the idea of learning them a second thought. It’s a first world problem that shouldn’t be taken seriously or given any validation at this point. The fact that you’ve learned a completely different language puts you miles above most who only speak English and intentionally butcher the only language they know. You’re fine lol.

[@Brain_Kandi]

Just don't pay attention to it😂... these people are all just seeking attention, self importance, and control over the way other people speak and precieve the world.

[@Brain_Kandi]

The "it/it's" drives me INSANE... my abusive mother would use calling me an "it" as a way to dehumanze and dismiss me... if anyone told me to address them as "it" , I will say "ABSOLUTELY NOT"....if they get offended by that.. so be it... im not triggering bad memories and a childhood of abuse and sadness to not "hurt someone else's feelings"...

[@alcxander]

mad respect to anyone who has deep respect for grammar and what it brings to our society. loved to listen to such a learned explanation of these topics so clearly made. well done

[@donnahanna10565]

I agree with your statement 💯% ❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊

[@hgrunenwald]

Thank you for making this video! It has boggled my mind to see how many people demand to be called by “their pronouns” without their having a clue what a pronoun is.

[@nopoatato]

im pretty sure people know what a pronoun is. 'they/them/theirs' are pronouns. just like gender pronouns and language are a social construct

[@-Zer0Dark-]

​@nopoatato True, it is a social construct. An established, understood social construct, devised to create understanding and clarity as we communicate with one another--not to create a false sense of uniqueness and manufacture confusion as a desperate means to feel persecuted, and therefore have something to take to Twitter/X about and feel validation from the masses who rally to your aid. Good of you to pick up on that.

[@hgrunenwald]

@@nopoatato I used to be relatively confident of that, too. In fact, not even that many years ago, I could guarantee you that anyone voluntarily discussing pronouns absolutely knew that nouns are different. 😕

[@rkwatchauralnautsjediparty7303]

@@nopoatato Nope, those are _examples_ of pronouns. These people don’t actually know what a pronoun _is,_ nor the purpose of such.

[@somni2246]

Apart from the linguistic validity (or lack thereof) of "preferred" pronouns and "neo-pronouns"-- and my perspective here is as a native English speaker-- I always come back to the idea that pronouns are not something which *belong* to an individual, on an individual level: they are words which mostly *other people* are using to identify/distinguish us-- to distinguish us as either a male human or a female human in ~99% of instances. One can no more have his *own* pronouns than he can have his own adjectives; e.g. "my preferred adjectives are stunning and brave, and to refer to me as either cowardly or hideous is to deny my very EXISTENCE, you BIGOT!!". The only word that belongs to any one person is his or her NAME. On another, unrelated note: you have really beautiful hair! I love those long, loose curls

[@growingoaks]

I'd argue that even our name does not belong to us. We are not our name. We are not our species. We are something unfathomably deeper than that. Further, you can completely change your name. I could go change my name and be a Dillan or a Mark or a Brady. At that point, I'm not even my name. I am something much deeper than that.

[@tokofukawap4055]

​@@growingoaksok but that's literally not relevant, those are your personal religious beliefs

[@chronischgeheilt]

​@@tokofukawap4055 .... so you think a person IS their name or that it is debatable?

[@simbelmyne7767]

Ok, let's roll this all the way back. Forget every conversation you've ever had or seen about this topic, this video included. If your friend asked you to use a new set of pronouns for them, because the old set made them uncomfortable and unhappy every single time you spoke them--would you do it? Yes or no. You can debate the ~philosophy~ of pronouns all day but what it comes down to is what kind of a friend you are. A good one, who within reason does their best to not cause suffering to their friends and respects their identities and feelings-- Or will you be a selfish friend, who cannot be bothered? A self-absorbed person. An unkind person. Made so not by some hastily-generalized label of "bigot" but by actions. As for someone who is not your friend but you have occasion to talk about--you should extend the same courtesy. It is not some heavy burden, it is a very basic form of respect. If you purposefully refuse to expend even that small effort for other people, you are being an ass. Hurting people on purpose = ass behavior.

[@simbelmyne7767]

Also, pronouns are just general-use names. Everyone has an internal sense of their own name and pronouns, but mostly they function as an answer to a very simple question: what do people call you? They serve almost the same function, just on different tiers of differentiation. Put another way, if someone is going to refer to me as an individual with a word that is entrenched in my very identity, and I have to hear them do it, it is very much my business.

[@karifern]

“It’s the internet. Everyone is offended by something.” So true (!!), however, this video did not offend me. As a fellow teacher of language, I love this! I’ve often tried to point out the issue of subject agreement, but this is so much better!!

[@_DROM_]

Her face and the deep breath she took before saying "dem/demon/demonself" was the cherry on top! 😂😂😂

[@OsakaJoe01]

Thank you! This is a breath of fresh air. I was getting tired of all the non-linguists on TikTok giving lectures on linguistics. 😮‍💨

[@katietomlin253]

The world is nuts the fact that someone would want to be called demon boggles the mind

[@Other_People]

If they would have stuck with they/them, I believe people would have eventually shrugged and adapted. But they had to push and push until everyone is pissed and confused.

[@millibillionth]

This was a much more technical breakdown than I was expecting, and it is cool that you are able to do it, given your formation. I appreciate the different angle, analysing the errors the people in question made with their own proposed language and how it highlights just how unnaturally conceived it all is.

[@themetadaemon]

Ever since I learned of the Duper's Delight, I see it every single time with these people. I can't unsee it. They know they're lying, as all narcissists do.

[@-Zer0Dark-]

Even the "demon" girl almost misgendered her partner by accident while trying to explain the nonsense. These narcissists are 100% aware that they're LARPing a character and aren't actually these things they claim to be.

[@gunnarpapst8452]

You devote exponentially more logic to address this absurdity than that which the inflictors have employed throughout their whole lives. Your thoughtful and authentic response to such things is admirable

[@Solitude11-11]

It’s the roast beyond reproach 😂

[@justanotherguy469]

She is referring to one person as "they". She is unable to think critically and can only repeat what she has been taught.

[@raven4090]

I figure the best thing to do to avoid the confusion those people want us to join in with is just avoid them entirely. They can mingle happily in their own group. I'm old, and I have better things to do than talk nonsense with people who are over three years old, and therefore have no excuse. Life gets shorter every day. I appreciate people like you more and more.

[@rossedennz]

Amen to you what ever your gender😂❤

[@raven4090]

@@rossedennz 🕊❤

[@Solitude11-11]

Yes, exactly my opinion too!

[@argosz8046]

Indeed, avoidance is an appealing option. In demanding irrational and unforgiving language change, this group of people wants to be "seen and heard", and 'accepted for who they really are' (an unknown to themselves). Instead, they will end up marginalized more than ever before, in order to save the sanity of the majority.

[@raven4090]

@@argosz8046 That's a very good way to put it!

[@johnbwill]

These people take the concept of 'self indulgence' to the next level; plus, they provide a wonderful source of amusement, for all of us. Good work Lana.

[@undeadarmy19]

This is such a great point, its a point I've been making for some time now. Most of these people are self-indulgent in about every possible way. This is also a problem with many "normal" people in society as well, and it's the #1 reason why depression and "mental health problems" are so high. When you spend so much of your time obsessing over yourself and indulging in any way you can, whether its eating crappy food, using a phone/computer way too much, being a lazy and selfish person generally speaking, etc. When everyday is sunny, you start to take sunny days for granted and that becomes your new "norm", then when it does rain it hits you harder. When you spend a large part of each day doing what you want, being lazy, giving your brain shot after shot of dopamine while not exercising a shred of self-control, you lose all motivation to do anything production. Its just like a drug addict that sits there and keeps taking drugs even though taking them doesn't even make them high anymore, they need them just to feel "normal". Most people are internet/social media/entertainment addicts nowadays.

[@BaffledBelief]

Lol at calling them people. You have made me laugh.

[@shimobe94]

Thank you for doing your part to actually educate the modern world on the realities of linguistics. I've taught English for over fifteen years to college students, and I appreciate your efforts.

[@merlinwilliams9286]

The problem is they are NOT intended to "establish" your male or female identity. They substitute a more or less generic word in place of a specific noun like your given name. Adding neo-pronouns is functionally equivalent to adding "personal letters" to our alphabet. Example: "My name is Sh^.n. I pronounce that "shawn" phonetically but I spell it Sh^.n using my preferred alphabet. Oh, and you must use my preferred alphabet or I'll be offended. "

[@happysugarwaifu432]

I shall name my first born child Sh^.n in your honor, that's a wonderful idea~

[@spiffokeen]

That’s funny at the moment. I’ll probably be mad at you when they decide it actually is a good idea, though. ;)

[@elizabethdegroot89]

Holy shit, that’s an incredible comparison 😅. Please make a video about this

[@godskook]

Functionally, they're tribal-signalers that do more to sort people into tribes than they do to establish things.

[@natanandrews7117]

SHHHH. Don't give them ideas!

[@DarthIckus]

I see all this crap as being nothing more than manipulation / controlling behaviours. It's not supposed to make sense, or be understood; Like all demands of control freaks and clinical narcissists, it's meant to be adhered to, with strict and often infantile penalties for all non-conformity. I am happy to use a nickname, but I don't play the pronoun game. This was a great break down of this insanity. Thank you!

[@stevenalexander6713]

Plainly said, "neopronouns" are not pronouns. They're either made-up words that don't exist at all in English, or they're just nouns. Ironically, the purpose of pronouns is to make speaking English easier, but this new ideology makes pronoun usage much more difficult and counterintuitive.

[@XpeteypoisonX]

The word "thou" was switched to "you" as Modern English evolved quite some time ago, and oddly enough a lot of people complained about how counterintuitive that was too.

[@bujharvard9313]

@@XpeteypoisonX Evolving happens naturally. There's nothing natural about a freak making up words and telling everyone to use them.

[@stvbrsn]

And contentious. Which was maybe the whole point.

[@mksjnd]

​@XpeteypoisonX Change in language over the course of hundreds of years is very different (and natural) from change within less than a decade.

[@Jimbobiscuit]

​@@XpeteypoisonX were people who still used thou labelled bigots as well?

[@فنكجَلِيدٍ]

Hi, fellow linguist here, and I completely agree with your analysis. Creating Neo-Pronouns is also quite unecessary, since pronouns aren't used to describe your identity (heck, using a single word to describe one's identity is impossible, and I'm sure that everyone knows this no matter in what side of the argument you stand), and there's also the fact that using nouns as pronouns can make it extremely difficult to understand what the person is saying. How the heck am I supposed to know that Lemon's Smile is supposed to refer to a person? It could be a new brand of lemonade, for example, it could be that someone carved a smile in a lemon, and is refering to that. Also, I saw a great debate over the use of the singular "they", and although the singular "they" does exist, its use is extremely specific: when the person in question is completely unknown, so you're unable to even know their sex (and sometimes even their number is unknown). Using "they" for known referents not only is weird, but it can also confuse people, and make conversations almost impossible to understand. And to this, some people may say "urr-durr, some languages don't distinguish third personal pronouns in number", and although this is accurate (Tupian languages, for example, have a single third person pronoun no matter the number, which is "ha'e"), it's necessary to understand that each language has its own internal logic that has developed through millennia, and is well known among their speakers. Changing this inner logic by brute force is basically impossible even if the own speakers are willing to do it. A good example I can give is one thing that happened with Swedish. In the 1960s (or more or less about it) many Swedish linguists came to the conclusion they wanted to abolish the distinction between masculine and feminine pronouns, and adopt a single common pronoun just like other neighbouring languages do, so they developed the pronoun "hen" ("han" is he, and "hon" is she) as this pronoun that would be used instead of the masculine and feminine ones. Feminists approved it, a bunch of influential people approved it, the overall population saw it as positive, but the pronoun "hen" never took off, because it was too artificial to use it instead of "han" and "hon". And let me just tell you that "hen" fits Swedish grammar way better than any neo-pronoun would even dream of, since Swedish distinguishes nouns between two grammatical genders based in animacy: common (animate, pronouns "han", "hon", "den") and neuter (inanimate, pronoun "det"). The "hen" pronoun is being revived now by the non-binaries, but it doesn't seem to stand a chance due to lack of support now, especially when compared to how much support it had back them. If "hen" wasn't successful, singular "they", and neo-pronouns stand no chance.

[@MamaEliseLockwood]

That was super interesting! I’ve heard these arguments before and it’s nice to see it countered so eloquently, I’ll be remembering this for future reference 😊

[@idakarlsson5172]

"Hen" and "he" is actually used among some fenno-swedes. It's in my local dialect (among a few others) and refers to mostly objets, for example "He e no en finär bil tu har" = "that's a really nice car you have"

[@فنكجَلِيدٍ]

@@idakarlsson5172 didn't know! Good to know that!

[@ttthecat]

This is fascinating bit of linguistic history- thank you!

[@andersgrundstrom1794]

I read "In the 1960s" and Sweden, and immediately thought about the "du-reform", where the pronoun "du" (means you, singular) would replace the stilted way of speaking used earlier. Basically, when talking to somebody above you in the social hierarchy, you were always supposed to title them with whatever their profession was while they had to respond with the pronoun "ni" (means you, plural). This led to really contrived ways of speech if you wanted to get around having to ask eachother for titles. Examples include: "Has det hund?" (Is there ownership of a dog?) to ask if someone owns a dog. "Ska det handlas?" (Shall there be shopping done?) "Det tappades en plånbok." (A wallet was dropped)

[@brandih8972]

I'm to the point where I want to respond with "you're welcome" when someone cry-bullies me about their latest feeling of being offended. They are looking for reasons to be offended, and they are acting upset when we all know they WANT to be offended. They just can't thank me out loud because then that would mess up their opportunity to be offended. So I infer their gratitude in that they get to do their favorite thing, which is wave the "I'm a victim" flag without having to actually experience pain or trauma.

[@alexandertiberius1098]

I just laugh and turn my attention to someone else or, if possible, walk away laughing, but this is pretty great.

[@xXMACEMANXx]

Genuinely curious, when was the last time somebody was upset with you for not using their neopronouns? I mean, just the odds that you'd even run into a person who would want to use neopronouns is fairly low, and I don't think most people using them would attempt to accost you for it. It's just strange that you would have this happen to you so much that you need to have a game plan for when it happens next time when I don't think I've even encountered a person who uses neopronouns in years.

[@rkwatchauralnautsjediparty7303]

That’s brilliant.

[@zoebrugg7594]

I'm a writer and this pronoun crazy is a nightmare.

[@morganpauls1873]

what do you write?

[@zoebrugg7594]

@@morganpauls1873 Fantasy. Sci-Fi.

[@PeteSmoot]

Every time I run into this, I'm grateful that I've never actually encountered someone in real life who didn't use traditional pronouns. And I live in the SF Bay Area which is Woke Central. I'd love to see some research about how many people actually prefer neopronouns. I'd be shocked it if was 1% of the population.

[@allietarasova3560]

Cool, I have worked as a translator. I mean, it is crazy but I don't think it affects us that much. What percentage of the population actually identifies as a demon? It's not that hard to follow their logic, even if it's sometimes faulty and ridiculous. Regular native speakers of any language use grammar incorrectly all the time. If someone specifically requests to be referred to by a neopronoun, I'll do so. It doesn't really happen as often as people on the internet would like you to think it does.

[@stacey_1111rh]

@@PeteSmootI’ve literally never run into it in person. For me and most people I know it’s not a reality. People don’t realize how this is being thrust upon them

[@Dabestbirb_]

This is a lovely professional way to say “this is delusional bullshit!” I love your take on this subject matter. I hope this video will be played in school English classrooms after the occasional neo baby throws a pronoun tantrum. And trust me they’ve been happening in my area in Alaska.

[@jtcheezus]

Oh man you are really preaching to the choir with you point: "if you are on a quest to meddle with language, you might want to show grammar some respect." Love it.

[@eehlohluell]

They treat pronouns like titles (king queen, duke), but without earning them, just _choosing_ or making it up. " I'm Ashley, my pronouns are ze/zer, you are disrespectful if you don't use my pronouns(titles)." "I'm Elizabeth, my title is the Queen of England, you are disrespectful if you don't use my titles outside my presence" It's literally narcissism.

[@nineteenfortyeight]

Seriously I've considered telling people my pronouns are "her Majesty/her Majesty's"

[@eehlohluell]

@@nineteenfortyeight go for it, there are people who say their pronouns are "god/godself" or "deity/deityself", it's absurd

[@snegluf]

It.. it really isn’t.. it literally is disrespectful if you don’t use someone’s proffered pronouns. Say you’re like me, a cisgender, straight girl who uses she/her pronouns only, i look sort of masculine and many people assume I’m a man, I get called he/him and a boy for so long that it starts affecting my mental health and how I feel about Myself. I totally get where you’re coming from, especially with weird pronouns like ze/zir/meow (lol), but at least for regular pronouns (she/he/they and stuff) you should at least *try* to make people comfortable around you right?

[@stacey_1111rh]

@@sneglufIt…. It really is…. What this person was speaking of defines narcissism as well as potentially a few other personality disorders.

[@P3rrineLover]

​@@snegluf Yes but this isn't about normal pronouns or transgender people. It's about the teenagers and young adults who lack a sense of identity and create fake names for themselves.

[@QueenPrism]

If someone asks to be called it I’m going to tell them to read “a child called it” it’s about a boy who’s violently abused by his mother, forced to live under the floorboards, and of course is called It. It and demon are terrible “pronouns” that shouldn’t be used on themselves and others.

[@baconsarny-geddon8298]

"it" prounouns may be SLIGHTLY worse than all the other made-up nonsense, but I really don't care WHAT the specific pronoun is- It's inherently unreasonable, and INCREDIBLY entitled, selfish and obnoxious, to demand that casual acquaintances use ANYTHING beyond the same standard, sex-based pronouns that are grammatically correct, and have been good enough for everyone else,for centuries. The entire concept of "genders", independent of biologcal sex, is a RELIGIOUS belief, "taken in faith", with exactly ZERO basis in real-world evidence... And a religion where you DEMAND for every other strangers to play along, and pretend to believe in "Non-binary people" (with ANY pronoun, beyond "she" for women, or "he" for men), or demanding we all pretend to believe in male "women" or female "men", makes it an EXTREMELY AUTHORITARIAN religion, which has total contempt for the rights and autonomy of non-beleievers. Think about it; Not even THE MOST authoritarian, intolerant, radical, extremist versions of traditional religion, like Islamic State, or the Taliban, or Westborough Baptist Church, or even Scientology, are so entitled that they will demand that NON-believers "have to" use the religion's language, and PRETEND to share the religion's beliefs... But that is exactly what THIS religion does, feeling itself to be entitled to DEMAND that every stranger must participate in the fantasy that it's somehow possible ti be "neither male OR female" (even with just "they/them" pronouns, still EQUALLY ungrammatical to any made-up "neo-pronouns". None of us should humour ANY of this nonsense. None of US are so selfish and entitled, to impose OUR beliefs on THESE people... The absolute LEAST they could do, is return the courtesy....

[@Addicted2Yarn1]

I read that book, it's definitely a hard hitter!

[@esm1817]

I feel the same way about Demon. It may sound cool to them or something, but I have to wonder about that person's emotional damage level. I hope they're okay.

[@jadab1782]

@@officiallytrustissues5411 that’s something that continues to bother me. I have been referred to as an “it” before, and people put it as their preferred pronouns?? Why would you want to be called that?

[@nathanberry5805]

@@esm1817 It's someone who feels the need to be seen as special. Unfortunately, they lack the personal strength to just let it be so they need to try and force it on everyone else and normalize it. Of course, once it is normalized they are no longer special and they will need to find the new thing that people are calling themselves or claiming they have. Vicious cycle that is the same downward spiral that accompanies any addiction.

[@alexanders562]

there was a movement in the 70's doing things like Fishing-person, Police Officer, Firefighter. I love how we are addressing language and exploring the logic. Great video.

[@michaeltoney2277]

I think younger people would like a reality where they are like video game characters who can change their avatars identity every hour if they want

[@-Zer0Dark-]

Given the fact that they're mostly socially stunted, awkward kids who grew up on immersive video games as a way to cope with their unwillingness to meld with society, that seems pretty likely.

[@TheYetixOUTx]

​@@-Zer0Dark- Do you have a children? Just curious

[@talkingtakotaco8611]

​@@-Zer0Dark-I imagine that's maybe half true. They are probably stunted in some ways and maybe grew up on video games, but most of these kinds of kids don't seem to know much or anything about videogames and only have the most cursory knowledge. Video game discourse is filled with a lot of these types where they want to be involved in video games but ironically have little contact or impact on video games, aside from maybe complaining about them on twitter.

[@Kathi914]

It's just new emo culture, they will grow out of it 😂

[@فنكجَلِيدٍ]

I used to hate the emos back then. Now I miss them.

[@sgshaday]

I didn't see emo culture make it's way into the corporate world. So this this is something else. Software is being programmed to fit into this. Corporations are asking people to add their pronouns in their emails or such. This is... Yeah...

[@ahe79]

@@sgshaday ​​⁠I concur. This is beyond a phase. It might have been only a phase, if not for the corporate adherence and even laws in some places that are changing to cater to this self-centered hedonism. Additionally, they can’t see beyond themselves and their own perspectives to see that their requests and demands are reminiscent of tyranny. Every generation wants to make their mark and stand apart from those who came before. They haven’t matured enough to realize how basic, yet incredible we all are. And that we don’t need to chase the newest thing to be important. We already are. Yet aren’t simultaneously. Speaking of maturity, that is precisely why many will not grow out of this… the mainstream acceptance is keeping them infantilized well beyond physical maturity. It happens because these adult children replace previous generations in the workplace, and create the policies to force others to accept their ideologies on the job and even indoctrinate (using emotionally charged and twisted logic) to adopt it holistically. Universities in particular are breeding grounds, if they happened to be spared in k-12. It is interesting that it coincides with a universal push for all kids to attend college, as if that is the only path to success in life. The messaging was you had little chance in life if you didn’t. Many colleges are merely an extension of childhood, without adult supervision. These young adults don’t have real world responsibilities. (Not all, obviously.) The training and education is not what it once was. It is a way of completing the social engineering project that is public education. It is funny how they make you pay (dearly!) for your own final re-programming post high school. Their need for independence is used against them to accomplish this. Also their sense of goodness and fairness. They don’t really know any better. So most of them do deserve our sympathy. Some youths are immune to the brainwashing, thank goodness. But they are not treated equally. If they want good grades, they know they must tow the line and give acceptable opinions. At one time, universities were a place to challenge and be challenged, as that is where true growth emerges from. Now, alternate opinions from the mainstream are not given much air. This is in line with the end stages of a civilization. Cycles. We won’t escape the fate of all that have come before us. We have not evolved enough collectively.

[@christopher_ecclestone]

Emo's didn't have an mad ideology that they succeeded in forcing into culture, and schools. And the police wouldnt turn up at your house for disobeying Emo rules. Nothing is "just" anything, and this is more than "just" the new Emo. This is neo-marxism forced into Western culture in order to rot it from the inside out.

[@Victoriacariad]

Probably...however if emos "grew" out the most damage they did to themselves was have a quirky piercing. These days you'd have your sexual organs damaged by drugs or chopped off completely. Then mentally scarred by dysphoria imposed by their peers.

[@Anythingforfreedom]

I never realized how confusing a linguist could be explaining my own language to me

[@jaceyking5015]

I was at my grandma's house one time and my aunt was visiting. She was talking to my grandma (who is 83 years old, mind you) about my cousin who was going to be driving down to meet up with my aunt. My cousin, formerly a girl named Kaia, now refers to herself as a "They" named "Pluto." So my aunt was telling my grandma that "they" were coming down, that "they" were going to stop and do X, Y, and Z before coming over, and "they" were going to meet up with some friends. My brother was also there, and after my aunt left, he asked me, "did you understand if she said our cousin was coming down by herself or with a group of people?" And truthfully, I had no idea. I'm sure my grandma, a former 1950s housewife, was probably even more confused.

[@AggelosKyriou]

Anyway, your grandma is less confused than your cousin.

[@simonwinn8757]

I live in a culture that uses a informal "They" in referring to people, so if we only get one subject ( i.e. Pluto) we generally know it's used in the singular. Ex "I talked to Bob the other day, said they were going to pop around on the weekend".

[@Thedarkbunnyrabbit]

@@simonwinn8757 You can technically use they for single entities, however it is generally only used if you don't know the gender of the person involved or in passing once you've established the gender. It's hard to explain when it's appropriate to use 'they' for someone whom you both know, because you really don't do it often and it's more like a quirk of 'you're not supposed to use it but you do sometimes anyway'. Forcibly using 'they' over and over for someone you know the identity and gender of becomes awkward and weird and indicates multiples being involved. 'It' is more appropriate, but has negative connotations for people. Amusingly I've been having this kind of 'it vs they' debate since long before neopronouns were a thing, as some video games and MMOs would use 'they' for mobs and it drove me crazy because it sounded so awkward.

[@kaitlynzuniga]

pluto is crazyyy lmfao

[@jxnnybwan]

why did you say "she" if they use they/them? Just wondering

[@24framedavinci39]

I really love how you break these down. You did it really respectfully, too. Bravo.

[@unmagicalmushroom]

i cant believe you could keep a straight face through this whole video😂

[@bsa45acp]

The kitty at the very end is a female (all cats with tortoise shell patterns are) yet the human who produced the video refers to the cat as a 'tom cat'. You are so spot on in this critique. Your command of the English language is commendable.

[@LanaMarie]

The cat video is mine :) Her real name is Nalenka, but online she goes by Alexander Meowington. Can't get a male cat just to make a parody of Hamilton, gotta work with what I have 😂 Well spotted tho!

[@androart1817]

I don’t think the cat cares as long as it gets fed lmao

[@ChelseaMayo]

It’s rare but some male cats can be calico. Same goes with red cats are mostly male but sometimes can be female. 😊

[@bsa45acp]

It is a rare genetic anomaly which also rarely occurs in humans too where the person has two XX chromosomes and a Y chromosome.@@ChelseaMayo

[@ChelseaMayo]

@@bsa45acp yes exactly my point.

[@SilviaVanThreepwood]

I always say, they're SO sensitive on being "misgendered" or have their wrong pronouns used, but that's only out of pure selfishness or narcississm because it's only about themselves. Put 300 of these people in a room together, ALL with unique neo-pronouns, do you think they could do it?? Ofcourse not! They could never remember all 300 and which one belongs to which person. And I daresay they don't give a hoot either, because the only one they care about is themselves and that others comply with their wishes.

[@stevenalexander6713]

And yet they say, "It's not that difficult." Please. If this ideology really gets off the ground, they're going to need to create computer software just to enter everyone's pronouns and keep track of everything. And some individuals use many different "pronouns!" There are people who collect pronouns the way kids used to collect Pokemon. How are we supposed to remember two dozen pronouns for hundreds of different people?

[@Octarin]

You mean «demselves» 😂

[@claradontcara]

@@Octarin Bwaahahahaaaaaaaa

[@steelnutz7464]

I swear these people get a kick out of watching people stumble over themselves to get their pronouns right. It's a game to them, and they want a reason to feel outraged so they can claim to be a victim of bigotry. I'm not going to play into someone's narcissistic delusions. They can keep playing pretend with their online friends and act like adults in the real world.

[@Octarin]

@@steelnutz7464 wait until you find out about «therians»...

[@maggieluvtacos]

I really like how you kept it respectful while also teaching. Like, in the "demon/dem" example, I've seen many other videos in which the author just attacks the person in the video while not actually bringing anything to the conversation. I feel like this proves that yeah, neopronouns may work to some extent, but you actually have to know how to apply them first if you want them to be implemented properly in language. (English is not my first language, so sorry for any mistakes lol)

[@katagirl3000]

I also studied linguistics and we were always taught that language naturally evolves to be easier to say and remember overtime. This is why so many of our words and sounds are silent, or voiced, because they have become simpler overtime. So with this in mind, the idea of tons of pronouns and genders wouldn't really last over a long period of time. It would have to be pretty simple and easy to say/do for it to actually stick.

[@irenerosenberg3609]

Interesting. I had read that languages tend to simplify when in close contact with another language to accommodate lots to non-native speakers. On the other hand, languages spoken by isolated peoples tend towards more intricacy to refine meaning. If this were not the case, how would languages get to be intricate in the first place?

[@justanotherguy469]

No, it is a deliberate debasement of the language to be able to pervert reality as it is to be communicated. It is much easier to control people with words than it is with guns. Language may evolve, but fundamentals do not, and that is what they are perverting.

[@alpyki2588]

What I have done is that if I'm unfortunate to be in a conversation with someone with the slightest possibility of having neopronouns from their looks, I just avoid pronouns. No ma'am or sirs, not addressing them at all with another person other than person or customer, gesturing, etc. Once they leave there is no need to adhere to their nonsense a second longer, because the amount of time is a millionth of a percent of daily life. That's how I think this is going to go. Just avoiding pronouns until you find someone sane to talk to.

[@justanotherguy469]

So you avoid reality to appease them. They win again.@@alpyki2588

[@Tranxhead]

That's not really true in practice when you consider the immense complexity and difficulty that many languages in the world develop for no discernible reason and hold onto.

[@1tommyday]

Pronouns and words in general are not owned by any person. People dont own words or language. Even if I said to a person " My name is Sofia" No one has to call me Sofia and I cannot demand others call me Sofia. It's just how others identify me- by my name. No one is required to call you anything that you prefer. It's just courteous. These youngsters dont care about anyone but themselves. They selfishly force this on others and those others do not have to comply. Made up problems in an entitled society. I bet young people battling cancer or juvenile arthritis arent worried if others get their pronouns right.

[@Keurgui1]

I mean they have problems for sure, but they want cooler problems

[@AlextheENTP]

Your personal name is where I disagree, because your name is in fact connected to yourself, unlike pronouns, which are just convenient placeholders for nouns and proper nouns. Name equals nature, and naming is done by someone in authority - babies, pets, businesses, artworks are all named by their guardian or creator, not random people on the street, so to outright inform someone that you will be calling them a name of your choosing is fully disrespectful and inappropriately claiming authority. I suppose I would draw the line if someone's name was an undeniable swear word or something horrendously demeaning, but hopefully I'll never need to be in that position (well, we'll see where this trend goes, since people are already using "demon" as a pronoun).

[@SCschoolpool]

@@AlextheENTPthat kind of thing is called a nick name, not necessarily disrespectful. plus neo pronouns are not names, they’re pronouns, which is the main confusing thing about them. changing the rules on a person to person basis makes it difficult to implement in everyday speech whereas a name is easily interchangeable and can be implemented by just plugging into a sentence. the pronoun part is what this linguist is trying to point out, it’s made unnecessarily difficult by people who create neo pronouns

[@dustyrose192]

I mean... you kinda can demand people call you name though? It's literally your name, i imagine its very disrespectful to not be called your name

[@Spellweaver5]

"No, you belong to demon". I would agree. That's clearly a case of possession.

[@josephh891]

It's a really bizarre topic and attracts some bizarre people. A woman who started working with us in January this year who says she's non-binary prefers "they/them" pronouns and everyone had a problem with this but never said anything. I just *referred to her by her name always* and never found a time where I needed to use "they/them". And believe it or not, she told a coworker that I have "misgendered her" many times when this never happened - *_not once in ten months._* It suddenly became clear: *_This pronoun stuff has nothing to do with feeling "included" and everything to do with wanting to feel superior._*

[@mr_maydo]

I often see that these people preach from a position of authority, which gives me the impression that this is the only thing they are competent at, and as we saw in the video, even this competence appears to be imaginary.

[@JMPschool1]

I've always thought that knowing someone's pronouns is very rarely important because you almost never need to use them when you're talking TO someone. You really only use then when you're talking ABOUT someone, and you can often just use their name.

[@josephh891]

@@JMPschool1 There are plenty of instances where the person claiming special status can be within hearing distance, and someone would ask "where did he (or she) go?" Of course she would call that "misgendering" if she'd hear it. And there are other people who'd go tell her about "misgendering". There are those who'd try and correct people by saying "they" or "them" to get virtue points then go and tattle tale. I would make sure that whenever I'd ask of her, or speak to her, I'd use her name and never a pronoun. That seemed to annoy her.

[@KittyKat8946]

I was told I had offended other co-workers because I opted out of stating my pronouns in my email signature at work. An option that was stated as allowed by HR when they sent out the missive that “preferred pronouns” could be added, or not, to our email signatures. My first name is decidedly a girl’s name, I am gen x so my parents were not participants in this latest trend, I was born a girl and they gave me a girl’s name. And I dress and wear my makeup like any average female. There should be no confusion as to what pronouns apply to me. But someone pointed out that I did not add my “preferred pronouns” to my email signature and asked me how others should know what they are! My response was that my pronouns cannot be “preferred”, that they simply are what they are as they were assigned to me by nature at my conception, that they were and are not a choice and that I am fine and happy with being just as God made me. The outrage expressed by this person was explosive to put it mildly. Especially, apparently because I mentioned God in my answer. That person tried to have me written up by HR! Thankfully HR said to them that my choice to not take on any other pronouns than what I have evidently identified with my whole life is my right and prerogative. Additionally, HR could not put another person’s spiritual beliefs or possible lack thereof ahead of someone else’s and that I was just as much within my rights to express a belief in any faith or higher power of my choosing just as they were free to express their own belief. Talk about entitled, whiny, spoiled brats this crazy group of people are. Thankfully HR made sure that they remained neutral on the matter and upheld my rights, but the fact that they had to astounds me. I never said anything at all about how ridiculous all of this is to me at work. Just kept my opinions to myself and opted out of stating the obvious, and still that person tried to find a way to be “offended”. Wow.

[@JMPschool1]

@@KittyKat8946 the time they wasted having to respond to the outrage caused by you simply choosing not to edit your signature lol but I'm glad HR supported you. I might have just told them I'm happy to be referred to as whichever pronoun the recipients of my emails infer because I'm not too concerned lol and they will most likely infer correctly. If they don't, it's on them and it doesn't offend me. Also, I've worked at an online company for a long time and sometimes you can't tell someone's gender by their name alone, especially if the name is foreign, and it's never actually mattered or been an issue. I don't have the need to use sir or ma'am in my email correspondence, so it just remains a mystery.

[@trinketsphinx3212]

I completely agree. As a native English speaker, I study other languages and that's difficult enough without this nonsense. Which is why, when confronted with someone who wants to mistreat grammar and use this nonsense, I simply don't employ pronouns. Many people forget that the use of pronouns is a convenience, to take the place of a proper noun so you don't have to say the proper noun ad nauseum. However, it is far more grammatically correct to say, "Shadow's new jacket is awesome! The next time I talk to Shadow, I am going to ask Shadow where Shadow purchased Shadow's rad new jacket," than any neo-pronoun. So, that's what I do. They can call me weirdly fixated on proper nouns, but what they can not call me, is disrespectful or intolerant of their nonsense.

[@alpyki2588]

These people are grievance seekers. If they even think you're doing something (whether or not you are) they'll still accuse you of being the worst of the worst.

[@trinketsphinx3212]

@alpyki2588 no kidding. Apparently the American Flag itself is now a symbol of oppression, which, if one actually knows the story of where our national anthem came from, is far more disgusting, disrespectful, and downright distasteful than anything such a person could accuse me of.

[@SophiaPangloss]

Great point, to a terrific video. It made me think about how we perhaps (I'm not an expert, on anything!) employed pronous as we expanded our social worlds because once the tribe or friendship group or social media following list gets too big we can't remember everyone's personal/proper noun and 'they', if we don't know, and 'he/she' if we do know the most obvious classification are a neccessary convenience to prevent our brains exploding... and if we have once again to remember everyone's personal choice of preferred or proper pronoun, well we're back to pate-popping pandemonium again... sorry, got carried away there.

[@taki7546]

These people have to be „disrespected“, how you called it. Someone needs to get them out of their fantasy world, so just call them by what they are: a he or a she. Simple

[@trinketsphinx3212]

@@taki7546 it ain't worth me losing my job, sorry.

[@StanWatt.]

I admire your tenacity in producing a video of this length - I gave up halfway through, then left.

[@Flippotycoon4583]

I consider myself an openminded person and I do really try my best but I struggle with this kind of stuff.

[@katheryns1219]

Yes, thank you! Well said: language changes organically - it cannot be forced. I'm a native English speaker who trained in linguistics and also speaks several languages. For some time, I've been trying to get this message to the self-appointed language police (who more often than not know very little about grammar). There are so many neopronouns being pushed nowadays that I ignore them all.

[@jonny5777]

You’ve hit the nail on the head with these people. They are so self-indulgent and think of themselves as the smartest person in the room that they can go around altering language to suit their needs on that particular day of the week. We should really stop indulging them. Apologies for my terrible grammar and sentence structure

[@donaldshults8957]

TBF we don’t indulge them. These are random people saying stuff on the internet for attention. IRL, I have no problem calling someone whatever they would like to be called. Whether it’s a nickname or a pronoun or whatever. And IRL those people don’t get upset when I mess up. The only people who care are people who spend way too much time looking at their phones, either getting angry about it or trying to normalize their own personal brand of bullshit.

[@snap.-_-]

Who does it hurt? If it makes them happy, takes minimal effort from your end and doesn't hurt anyone, why not call them what they like? And you clearly have a specific type of person you're thinking of. You've probably never met someone irl who uses neo pronouns which is why you feel this way. I had a friend who used neo pronouns and they were very nice, nothing like what you described

[@lanelothian1925]

As a dyslexic it confuses the hell out of me. I hate it when people pick me up on it as it’s hard enough to get my thoughts across in a written format without someone critiquing my written grammar (which happens to been positive indicators of the form of dyslexia I have). I thought it’s worth noting I’m not ill educated I have a psychology degree as well as being a dyslexic.

[@onevastanus]

Are you trying to wear your disability as a badge of honour and thus use it to control others?

[@noklarok]

I am totally with you, I am dyslexic and I struggle to form sentences and whatnot, I struggle sometimes with words and grammar especially suffixes .. so I struggle to give a crap about someone's precious pronoun troubles if they don't care about my language processing problems. Dyslexics Against Neo-Pronouns!

[@onevastanus]

@@noklarok NDAP?

[@lanelothian1925]

@@noklarok I found that a lot of people because they can’t “see” dyslexia it doesn’t exist to them. “They” really don’t like it when you tell them “are you picking on me because of my disability?” Or I just say I’m dyslexic that’s a you problem not a me problem. Don’t let people get you down, the chances are you are much smarter than them anyway 😎

[@lanelothian1925]

@@onevastanus should that not be DANP? Or are you trying to make the point that dyslexics make transposition errors?

[@berserkirclaws107]

I worked with schizophrenic work colleagues (yes plurals 🤦‍♂️) and we all learn very quickly that when one of them had an episode to stand well clear and not get dragged into it. You can't make sense of anything those people are saying they don't live in reality but you have my respect for trying 🙇‍♂️👍👏👏

[@lannyssketchbook]

Okay, I’m late, but I’d like to counter the apostrophe thing with “Lemons”. The equivalent of “lemons” in this context is “his”, “hers”, and “theirs”. With these, an apostrophe is never required. “Hers” is simply “h e r s” without an apostrophe. Same with “theirs”. Since the equivalent to “lemons” is “his” “hers” and “theirs”, this shouldn’t require an apostrophe either. Of course, correct me if I’m wrong, but this is just how I was thinking about it. I don’t study or work in English, so I’m no professional :)

[@robertmuller1523]

What purpose do individual pronouns even have? If pronouns are not shorter and more generic than the names and nouns to be substituted, you can do without them altogether.

[@craiglee3048]

That’s an excellent point. Many of these people use these so-called “pronouns” more as names and nicknames; personalized or individualistic choices rather than something taken from a general language used by human to communicate with one another.

[@mavericktheace]

Love this! Thank you. The internal inconsistency is the first and largest problem with the mucking about with pronouns these days. What I keep trying to tell people is that nobody has their own third person pronouns - that's what first person pronouns are for. We have third person pronouns that we use for others, not ourselves. So when someone says "my (third person) pronouns are..." what they are really saying is, "this is how you must describe me, regardless of what you actually believe."

[@SummerSwan50]

Yeah, and?

[@britanyponder4412]

I wish we, as a society, could come up with a first person pronoun for people who are nonbinary. It might help🤔

[@Kanal-yh5xi]

​@@britanyponder4412what for? 'I' is already non-gendered. Doesn't matter if you see yourself as a man, woman or something else.

[@-Zer0Dark-]

​@@britanyponder4412Thing is, there are no non-binary people. Sex and gender are dimorphic, as a rule. Any exception to this rule (ex.: intersex) is just that: an exception. Just like some people are born with less than 10 fingers, the exception doesn't change the rule that humans are born with 10 fingers. The only difference is: People who claim to be "non-binary" are actually one gender or the other, and simply claim to "feel" like they don't identify as either. The fact remains, they ARE. So they should expect that outside observers will see and respond to their position in the binary accordingly. We don't need a new word for -10 fingered people, and we don't need a new word for self-proclaimed non-binaries.

[@invariablybefuddled4415]

Just found your channel. First, I'm jealous of your hair. Secondly, thank you. The fact that people are misusing language is driving me insane. Thank you for explaining this in a very logical and educated fashion.

[@jackietea8772]

this will simply never stick. Its a trend... specifically neo-pronouns. a MAJORITY (not all) are just a bunch of kids wanting to be special... but they will grow out of it, or start to realize that its a battle not worth fighting because forcing people for your entire life to call you lemonself is just going to get exhausting. Its never going to gain true traction in the real world.

[@avetiq3905]

The idea of the usage of neo-pronouns completely loses the reason why someone should have a name. If you walk up to a room, where everyone uses a different pronoun, instead of using the pronouns, you can just learn their names to address them

[@ginalangston9428]

First video of your I've seen and hit the subscribe button when you said " self importance ". The corrections were great but calling out the actual issue for what it actually is...I can respect that.

[@jojowynne233]

The KZbin algorithm put your video in my feed and I’m very happy it did! 😀 We now have a professional linguist telling these people how stupid these pronouns are! Thank you! 🙏 You also do it with humour 😃 You’re right, this is the internet so someone will be offended somewhere and get their knickers in a knot over the truth infused with some humour 😂 Lana, I have now subscribed ❤

[@harmonyqueue]

I actually love how engaged you are in this discussion. While I've seen your videos on costuming and design, this video feels casual AND deeply thought-provoking. Maybe that is owed to your background in linguistics. Either way, I would love to see more of these linguistic videos in the future!

[@kynaston1474]

"Did you catch the mistake?" Lady I'm having a brain aneurysm!

[@mxdahliabelle]

As an autistic, transgender woman, I deeply appreciate your exploration of the problems with willy-nilly neopronouns. She/her = feminine; he/him = masculine; they/them, it, and name only are all available and easily understood as gender-neutral (or gender-expansive) options. Sure, people can claim whatever language they want for themselves, but language is meant to communicate, and failure to communicate is a failure to use language.

[@soniaess28]

You are incorrect. She and her are for FEMALES, he and him are for MALES.

[@NiaLaLa_V]

DYK there are doctors curing transgenderism? Have been for over 20 years.

[@netpunk5890]

Language is meant to communicate, yes, which is why it’s incorrect to use “she/her” pronouns for men who identify as women. They are not women, they will never be women, and we do language and society a disservice (never mind the entire sex class of women and girls) when we use feminine pronouns for men. “She used her penis to rape the victim” is so wrong on so many levels, it’s biologically, factually incorrect, and it allows casual readers to think that somehow, women are out here committing sex crimes at an alarming rate, when it’s really just the same old men, but now they have wigs and lady pronouns.

[@mxdahliabelle]

@netpunk5890 do you feel better now, having regurgitated meaningless strawman arguments? I hope. Now, please see yourself out. Adults are here to have actual conversations.

[@netpunk5890]

@@mxdahliabelle This is not meaningless, and you know it. Pronouns are Rohypnol. I was once of the opinion that “oh, who could it hurt? It’s just a little pronoun!” And that’s where everyone who has peaked started. And now we have rapists in women’s prisons, men taking women’s spots on athletic teams, and mutilated children who are now finally starting to file lawsuits against the medical butchers who lied to them that transition was real and possible. I am more than willing to have a conversation. It is you and your side that are well-known for refusal, because there is no substantial basis for gender identity, let alone any reason to believe that carcinogenic medications and disfigurement will *help* a mental illness. Just because you struggle with some of the finer points of human interactions doesn’t mean you’re a woman.

[@jurajjakubec7796]

I think the main problem is the fact that neopronouns are indeed just nouns with incorrect grammar applied. Generally a pronoun is a word that replaces a noun in order to avoid repetition and make sentences more simple. In doing so, they tend to "generalize" the precedent noun based on one of its features - eg in english we use the pronoun "he" to refer to a person that can be labeled as a man. (In my language the equivalent of "he" can be used not only for people, but all nouns falling under the masculine grammatical category, including inanimate objects - its generalizing aspect is even more extensive). That being said, neopronouns do none of that - they do not generalize, they do not help avoid repetition (they do quite the opposite).

[@ekaprasetio9564]

So on point on the generalisation stuff. It’s also a way to simplify discourse by not referring everyone by their names.

[@BodaScambaits]

I refuse to use any pronouns anymore. Nobody is a person, you all are things.

[@mariusreinecker1556]

Language doesn't work that way. Forcing changes has been tried before, and ultimately always failed, for good reason. On the other hand, as languages naturally evolve and change, things that were wrong at a time became right because no one could be bothered anymore. There happened a lot of changes in my first language, for instance, most of them intensely displeasing to me. But, always the rules had to bow to the changes that just naturally happened "by themselves", never, ever the other way around. As much as particular individual changes might irk me, on principle I am convinced that is a very good thing. Because it prevents willful abuse. Also, the whole thing is extremely discriminating, anglo-centric and arrogant. No one in their right mind who ever even tried to learn a highly inflected language, of which there are many, even with more speakers worldwide than English, would dream up such nonsense. English lost most of its grammar it still had a few hundred years ago. Because folks couldn't be bothered and obviously collectively felt they didn't need the nuance and precision. Which I find sad, but that's just how things go. And now you are trying to forcefully complicate it? Well, you will not much like the results, that much I can tell you.

[@amy_harboredinpages8272]

Great points!... Me, myself, and I... want off the boat!!!

[@wombatillo]

Hey! In Finnish every day language it's fairly common to use "it" for people and people who have cats and dogs call their pets "him/her" (Finnish doesn't have genders).

[@markolukic7824]

As a language enthusiast I found this amazing! Keep up the good work!

[@sagethegreat4680]

Well fisherman isn't really referring man as in the males of the species. It refers to humans much like X-men refers to everyone as a whole not just men .

[@Crihnoss]

Also the man i mankind is short for HUman

[@eehlohluell]

The word man has been socially refined to be used to refer to adult human males. The word was "polished" by how people use it, so unlike "neo pronouns" this refinement is socially driven not ideologically driven, an organic change produced by native speakers as a whole.

[@kennethvalbjoern]

I'm never going to validate any person who demands me to use non-standard pronouns. Never.

[@IngenuousSoprano]

I can't speak for anywhere else, but here in the US precious little grammar is taught at all. I was lucky that the homeschooling curriculum my parents got for me and my brothers had the amount of grammar instruction that it did. The level of grammar taught to my friends who went to public or private schools was just as much of a crap shoot as it was for homeschoolers (though homeschoolers tended to fair a bit, but not usually much, better). This is also a huge factor in why so few Americans actually learn a second, let alone third or fourth, language. Struggling o learn French, German, Russian, or Japanese have all added to learning the actual building blocks of grammar, but trying to explain any of it to people who's only belief about the English language is that it effectively has no rules is more difficult than teaching yourself Russian or Turkish grammar.

[@TempestPhaedra]

Hey I agree with you! I started learning a language last year and my lack of grammar knowledge was the first roadblock. I had to order a book on English grammar so I could understand what the oblique case is, object vs subject, indirect object vs direct object etc. It wasn't hard and didn't take long but finally learning all this stuff was like finding the key to the gates of the universe. (I know a lot of people in the language learning community poo-poo grammar study because "you can just absorb it through listening bro, bro all you have to do is listen and you'll learn it like a baby," but all I'll say to that is that learning grammar is the first thing I can do to maximize my intelligibility...I am not interested in stacking my bad accent and limited vocabulary over inconsistent grammar. Also I find it fun.)

[@PRikka]

As a Spanish speaker, I find it very strange that anyone considered to be of Latin origin now has to make a hissing noise at the ends of words instead of the proper masculine or feminine suffixes. 😂 Thank you for your bravery!

[@Obesebutimcutelol]

as a Spanish speaker, I make fun of people who say Latinx, it’s so cringe and us latinos never wanted that

[@thomgizziz]

Are you really this slow? Plurals are still a thing in latin and thus Spanish. Not like that is your native tongue anyway it was probably learned from the settlers that conquered your country.

[@iamjurell]

​@@thomgizzizthe fuck are you talking about?

[@alexandertiberius1098]

​@@thomgizzizNot that plurals were mentioned, but Latin pluralises with -a, -s, -m or -um. Spanish plural endings are -s, -es or -ces. So what exactly is the point you are making? Also, Plurals are only used for individual people when the identity of that person is unknown: "Some one is at the door." "Well, let THEM in." Also, also... learn what native language means, you unbelievably offensive clown.

[@chilledchupacabra5317]

⁠@@thomgizzizIt isn’t the native tongue and I’m not sure of anywhere but mexico, but mexican spanish is influenced by nahuatl. Oaxaca is an example, where the x is more of a jota than an eckis/ecks. I only have an issue with latinx when it’s used as though that’s what everybody wants to go by. It feels like us latinos have had no say in this, and other people shouldn’t decide what we call ourselves

[@cc_snipergirl]

Pronouns get an eye roll from me. It has nothing to do with people not being cis, and I use them respectfully after being told the first time. But I'm only halfway through and the first two clips you used are dripping with a condescending tone. To me, people who need to immediately tell their pronouns to everyone often have that snooty "I'm a vegan!" energy. It's their entire personality and they make a spectacle out of it. Also, I do think that inventing your own pronouns specifically for you (like the demon one) is like asking people to call you "your highness". Normally people just correct each other in the flow of conversation or don't make a big deal of it unless necessary, and don't want to be treated like a spectacle anyways.

[@CourtneyIsGoblin]

I'm not a linguist, but I pick up on these inconsistencies as well. It makes this new movement all the more bothersome. Thank you for the comprehensive video.

[@EeliusAstaroth]

Was waiting for a linguist to finally say something about this madness ❤️ thanks for this cause it's absolutely necessary. The only people offended are the ones who want to be while ignoring the importance of grammer and why we shouldn't encourage more learning curves that regress actual structures of language. Especially when it comes to other languages that utilize feminine and masculine context which is nearly all but avoidable.

[@donnahanna10565]

If you're a linguist please make your own video I loved this so much it made me feel like like there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There is the door that leads out of The Twilight Zone. My grammar is not the best but I am striving to make it better every day because it's beautiful when it is spoken correctly❤ speak out linguists of the world! You are our superheroes and we need you right now. But don't grade me because I'm working on emotion right now LOL ;-)

[@VideoCesar07]

Tell me about it. I am in NA and one group decided a while back to make their group readings gender neutral. It sounds so awful because they didn't even make a real attempt at making it sound even close to grammatically correct. It simply sounds as terrible as you can imagine.

[@RapaxGuardian]

I live in the Northeast in America, and have been attending cosplay conventions since 2010. Starting around 2018 some of the cons I attended started to include a space for pronouns on your event badge and/or registration. And yet for some bizzare reason they never respect my chosen pronouns of "Her Royal Majesty" 🙄

[@Octarin]

I'm loving your analysis, as a non native English speaker and a former English teacher. Also, as an honorary witch, I am sorely tempted to attempt a mass demon summoning and get rid of all these demself idjits. In all seriousness though, ive been telling people to stop callling themselves an «it» because it's demeaning. The ancient Romans called their slaves «res» which was a neutral form on purpose in order to objectify them. And now these ignoramuses are doing it on purpose. And in my language, which is gendered, they replace any gendered suffix with @. Which is even worse tbh.

[@bebbization]

For "Dem is cute", I was expecting "Dem are cute" because it was so closely compared to they/them. At least it's consistent with "I hope dem LOVES demonself". I still stink they/them should be enough, as it is already becoming more commonly used.

[@Rodger_Phillips]

this was so well said, thank you and I whole heartedly agree with your opinion, notably, "use a nickname like people have been doing for centuries" and of course "Neopronouns are as intuitive as jumping off a cliff" so well said. also you are right, English is a complex and difficult language even for those of us born into it, not only does it present in a confusing manner, we also have to add regionalization's and colloquialisms from around the world, and it seems (though I could be wrong) that other language's do not do this as much as English. I know that Australians and New Zealanders understand each other without issue, but Canadians, Americans, Brits and others often get confused by our version of English, although we have no issue understanding US and Canadian English, until we speak to someone from say Boston or Louisiana, I am going to keep this simple, but this stands to support that yes even native speaking English users often do not understand how our language works.

[@rathelmmc3194]

I don't think these people realize how deep in the weeds they are with this stuff. All those TikTok videos, I'm like "WTF are they talking about." It was incredibly hard to follow the sentence structure and what they were even saying. It doesn't surprise me that it takes a linguist to breakdown what they're saying and why it's wrong. So kudos to you.

[@rodb66]

Not only is this ideology going against science, it goes against grammar.

[@lavienestpasunlongfleuvetr2559]

When people say 'my pronouns are x/y' or 'I use x/y pronouns', what they usually mean is 'I demand that you pretend I'm something I'm not, by using language to refer to me as though I were the thing that I'm not'.

[@sandybruce9092]

If I should run into someone who tells me what their pronoun is, I will use what pronoun is actually correct and not something made up by fools and idiots! Good luck finding jobs!

[@CeridwenKeeley]

Apostrophes! Yes! And 'whenever' conflated with 'when'. These days, people whose first language isn't English do much better than native speakers. Oh. 'Cast' is the past tense of 'cast'.

[@tigralon]

You immediately got a new subscriber at 2:30 when you explained why it should be "fisher-they" based on how linguistics work, and the rest of this video is JUST AS GOOD. Thank you for this extremely level-headed and sensible examination!

[@AvalonDreamz]

It's wild that all this used to be taught in schools in America when I was in school. Grad. in '97. I feel like our youth are just walking around like bumbling idiots talking nonsense and the fact they have people who KNOW better actually backing this nonsense, to me, just shows that there are people out there who want to take advantage and exploit people with learning disabilities or who are ignorant. And it's sad. Ignorance shouldn't be lifted up as an achievement but that is what it seems like is being done today.

[@thomgizziz]

Oh it still is from what I can gather... but you know most kids they can't remember what they learned last week much less a grammar lesson that they didn't care about that was years ago.

[@user-yl7kl7sl1g]

93% of the world is religious, meaning they are unable to separate fantasy and delusion from reality. Of the remaining 7% the majority can not read a scientific study and determine if the conclusion is valid, meaning they too are unable to make sense of basic reality and are delusional. This means that nearly every human being is living in a constant state of delusion all the time. It's more astonishing that most people are able to do basic things such as earn a living and feed themselves given how infected their minds are.

[@buffybrowncoat]

I love this! I think that is was one of the best break downs of neopronouns that I have seen and you have explained the English language very well for the length of the video. I would love to see more on this. What a great job!!

[@METAL-ADDICT]

I have a feeling this vid is going to blow up. It's SO GOOD. 👍

[@VocalEdgeTV]

I swear I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. Wondering WTF these people would do dealing with other languages in which verbs and adjectives must coincide with the subject’s gender.

[@Carolina-ql1kn]

Well, inclusive language is a thing in Spanish. Most people find it ridiculous though.

[@madgevanness4011]

Latinx never took off except in academia.

[@teralmiles]

How come we never see educated people like you, in the same room as these people? I’d love to see how they’d react to you correcting their nonsense. Great video. I love your hair too. ❤

[@UmatsuObossa]

They would plug their ears or come up with nonsense arguments about how they're still right no matter what. They're bigots (people who won't change their minds no matter what).

[@JoesWebPresence]

Because the "educated" people in the same room as people who push this nonsense tend to be their peers, educated into the same neo-marxist conditioning as them. WAY more academics pander to this nonsense than challenge it, and that's down to them facing the very real risk of being targeted and excluded from their academic field, labeled as a transphobic bigot. Fascist is, as fascist does, and this is social fascism.

[@MichealPacitto]

Anger and violence. Breaking cult worldviews tends to be intolerable.

[@donn2703]

They would react as they always do, defensively and without reason. Also, they go to the stance that you are obviously a homophobe.

[@timothyhites7016]

They would call her Transphobic and point and scream like the Invasion of the Body Snatchers

[@Emm-cl7dp]

As a native English speaker. I profusely apologize for these individuals with mental health issues that have unfortunately fell through cracks. These people should not be burdening the rest of the world with their issues and the only platform they should be using is the mental health one.

[@sp1c3M0nst3r]

This reminded me the Babylon Bee video about an alien learning pronouns 😂 Let's just say my sentiments are the same as the alien.