Is there a single neutral word......

[Absalom]

....I am deeply troubled by the "they" that I see used by young people - I don't know whether they're using it because they're ignorant or because they are snowflakes who were taught by idiots, but neither choice makes me happy.
..

Before being too judgmental, one should consult authoritative sources, or there is the risk of any harsh judgments bouncing back on oneself.

To quote Merriam-Webster, certainly more authoritative than the commonly accepted misconception that seems to dominate this thread:

"We will note that they has been in consistent use as a singular pronoun since the late 1300s; that the development of singular they mirrors the development of the singular you from the plural you, yet we don't complain that singular you is ungrammatical; and that regardless of what detractors say, nearly everyone uses the singular they in casual conversation and often in formal writing."

So forget about "young people".

 

[Erich]

Your quotation of Merriam-Webster's blog posting (not the dictionary itself) is duly noted, as is the blog's disclaimer that "Words We're Watching talks about words we are increasingly seeing in use but that have not yet met our criteria for entry."

 

[HARDWARE]

i was about to post the genderless description i often use. but thought bettre of it.

 

[rwsmith]

Clumsy but doable

Where Bellevue College's students were formerly asked to check male or female they are now given a list of modern choices including "undecided." By the time we were 18 we had looked down.

Here's a grammar question that does not involve modern ideas of what's acceptable.

Example: Yesterday a member posted a rumor that the owner of Registered Magnum #1, who's condition is unknown, turned down $250,000.

What word replaces who's for an inanimate object?

....Registered Magnum, of which the condition is unknown.

 

[DWalt]

There are no longer any policemen, firemen, or mailmen.

 

[rwsmith]

"They" meeeeeeh..

'They is usable' but it feels like one of those things that got accepted due to the world changing faster than the language. Though it may be gender free, it's also plural and you are talking about one individual. Kind of 'forced'.

It's almost like one of those things people accept as proper, even though it isn't.

You know, I shouldn't worry about this because the world will still turn. But I just wanted to voice my displeasure at said 'world;

Like Mammy said in 'Gone With the Wind'

"It ain't fittin', It ain't fittin'...........It ain't fittin'"

 

[two-bit cowboy]

Example: Yesterday a member posted a rumor that the owner of Registered Magnum #1, who's condition is unknown, turned down $250,000.

What word replaces who's for an inanimate object?

Who's wasn't correct in any sense. It is the contraction of "who is." Whose would have been correct, but it would have referred to the owner, not the RM.

... the owner of Registered Magnum #1, condition unknown, turned down....

 

[bushmaster1313]

I know myself to be a refined individual/person who likes to eat, shoot, fish, sleep and buy guns
For some unknown reason my wife is convinced I'm a typical male

 

[yaktamer]

Where Bellevue College's students were formerly asked to check male or female they are now given a list of modern choices including "undecided." By the time we were 18 we had looked down.

Here's a grammar question that does not involve modern ideas of what's acceptable.

Example: Yesterday a member posted a rumor that the owner of Registered Magnum #1, who's condition is unknown, turned down $250,000.

What word replaces who's for an inanimate object?

"condition of which" -- but the premise upon which your question is based is flawed; it would be "whose." Who's = who is

 

[bushmaster1313]

This is way too funny

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah49lN1S93U"]This is too funny[/ame]

 

[k22fan]

I'm sorry that I did not notice that I wrote the contraction for who is.

Forget all previous examples. This one stands alone. Improved example:
Registered Magnum #1, whose bluing might be worn thin, is worth more than $250,000.

Can an inanimate object possess? If RM #1 can possess then is there a different possessive specific to inanimate objects?

 

[JH1951]

Don't need the points myself, but someone ought to be able to work something out of she/he/it.

I see what you did here, and I am still laughing!

 

[BAM-BAM]

At the risk of offending the "Mods"

"Jerk "and "Snowflake" are gender neutral; and tend to describe folks who take offense to he/she or him/her .

In "The Burgh"........ "Jagoff" is often used!

... sorry could not resist.


As you can see above;I tend to just use "Folk(s)"

 

[BAM-BAM]

Don't need the points myself, but someone ought to be able to work something out of she/he/it.

Aren't we up to 50 some options??????? ....... but I see your logic.

 

[chaparrito]

Who's wasn't correct in any sense. It is the contraction of "who is." Whose would have been correct, but it would have referred to the owner, not the RM.

... the owner of Registered Magnum #1, condition unknown, turned down....

This. But I'd have used a semi-colon after #1. Picky picky.

 

[Doug M.]

12 letter substitute for "adherent of Oedipus".

 

[Doug M.]

It's probably more accurate to say "crude and disgusting, but well educated enough to bury that in euphemisms in some settings". I'm from the east, and have rough friends, plus I have been coarsened by decades in LE and prosecution. I can and do use "the all purpose part of speech" for all purposes.

 

[Targets Guy]

the aforementioned

 

[Kurusu]

And I was nearly stung by a Portuguese Person of War at the beach the other day....

Just wait till you get stung by a Portuguese Woman of War. After that you won't make anymore jokes about it.

Don't ask me why I know anything about that.

Edit. By the way. The word you are looking for is... UNSUB.

 

[kozmic]

As to not offend one of the eighty-some-odd gender "options", I have resorted to just grunting and pointing.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

i was about to post the genderless description i often use. but thought bettre of it.

Does it atart with the letter "A" and end with "hole"?????

 

[ParadiseRoad]

I also believe 'they' works.

So does 'Pat'.

 

[CCHGN]

I am deeply troubled by the "they" that I see used by young people .

Well, "they" would definitely NOT work there, in ANY case, because he said in a "either/or" situation, so those "young people" would get an F for not paying attention to the instructions.

 

[David LaPell]

I would have to go with the word "It" as well.

I know I have been to Walmart enough times and seen plenty of things I would have to classify as "it" that would be tough to describe any other way or by gender.

 

[gregintenn]

How about "you'uns"?

In Tennessee, this pronoun is used beginning at the Jackson/Macon county line and eastward.

 

[MTC(SS)Ret]

I rather like "youse"