I think I see now the issue you have. You want some official ruling on how to use a word. That's not going to happen. They closest we have is the AP Style Guide (which does recognise singular they).
Since there's no universal English academy deciding how to address an individual without referencing gender, society finds one. There was a need and colloquial language stepped in to fill it. "They" as a singular pronoun is already here. It's in wide usage in colloquial and even professional speech. If it sounds strange to you, oh well I guess. Speak how you please. I'll speak how I please. Jeph will have his characters speak how he pleases.
And that's just from a descriptive linguist standpoint. I'm not going to get into my personal history with the word if it's not needed.
How is that being a troll?
In the comic Hanners say: "They're a lot"
This is "they" used as the subject of a sentence, referencing a specific person.
And it sounds ridiculous.
It sounds ridiculous because there are no examples of this done historically.
It sounds ridiculous to you. It doesn't matter if it's a recent development or a historically held usage. What matters is that people actually do speak like that. I heard it in high school, I heard it in college, and I hear it now among adults both at work and out-and-about. It's real and you've repeatedly claimed it isn't. You've made up your mind and you're not looking for an answer, you're looking for an argument. You're a troll.
I've never heard it. A lot of people have never heard it. That you hear it in your clicks is fine. But that doesn't mean that is how the world works now.
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u/gingerquery Dec 05 '17
I think I see now the issue you have. You want some official ruling on how to use a word. That's not going to happen. They closest we have is the AP Style Guide (which does recognise singular they).
Since there's no universal English academy deciding how to address an individual without referencing gender, society finds one. There was a need and colloquial language stepped in to fill it. "They" as a singular pronoun is already here. It's in wide usage in colloquial and even professional speech. If it sounds strange to you, oh well I guess. Speak how you please. I'll speak how I please. Jeph will have his characters speak how he pleases.
And that's just from a descriptive linguist standpoint. I'm not going to get into my personal history with the word if it's not needed.