This is going to be a bit tricky to ask correctly, so sorry for making you read long, carefully crafted sentences! Sorry if it seem like excess (and it kinda is, but better safe than sorry, as I don’t want closure! If you have an edit that gets the point across but in a shorter … Read more
I was wondering what the general take is on concord with they as a gender-neutral 3rd person singular pronoun. I assume there are no hard and fast rules here yet, seeing that this is a fairly new phenomenon – or am I mistaken here? If there is, indeed, an established rule, please let me know! … Read more
Is there a gender-neutral alternative to “Jane Doe” / “John Doe”? I would like to provide an example of signed form, but how to avoid using gender when it comes to names? Is there some widely-used idiom for this? Answer A. N. Other Proper noun (British) A formulaic name that is substituted for that of … Read more
Inspired by this question, what are are the feminine and gender-neutral equivalents of a ‘henpecked husband’? Would it be correct to say ‘cockpecked wife’ (even though that sounds dreadful) and ‘birdpecked’ or ‘bepecked spouse’? Answer Cock-pecked is the traditional counterpart, as the cock (or rooster) is the male counterpart to the hen. The Oxford English … Read more
Would it make more sense to use a third, different word, e.g. “spouse” instead of wife & husband, or use one of them, e.g. “actor” for actor & actress. “Widow” seems like the obvious choice, since it’s the simpler of the two. Answer One good option is surviving spouse: A spouse who lives longer than … Read more
Is there a gender neutral alternative to “this guy”, to refer to yourself in the third person in a gender neutral way? Example of use: Guess who just got a raise? {This guy!} Answer Just a suggestion: Guess who just got a raise? Yours truly AttributionSource : Link , Question Author : jFields99 , Answer … Read more
Who knew that the term manspreading is considered deeply sexist? I didn’t A nameless user proposed to delete the term from an answer of mine. His explanation was “remove misandry”. I had written [someone] who spreads their legs and invades your space (AKA manspreading) The comment got me thinking. At first, I was quite flabbergasted … Read more
I’m going to be hosting an event that may include gender non-binary participants, and we have some t-shirts to give away. They are manufactured in Men’s and Women’s cuts. Are there any terms that can refer to these cuts without using gender names? The terms would need to be understood in Canada (which I am … Read more
I noticed, in an article recounting the very robust and competent response of a young lady to inappropriate conduct, that she was described as a ‘server’. I have never seen this use of the word before and the OED seems to class it as ‘rare’ in the general sense of serving and has no modern … Read more
It is becoming more common for people to explicitly state the pronouns to be used in addressing themselves: he/him, she/her, or they/them. For example, a name tag for a conference might read: Cory Lopez Some Company She/Her Usage seems to have settled on the singular they and them as gender neutral pronouns. Alternatives that were … Read more
