Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT Strips 3636 to 3640 (18th to 22nd December 2017)
hakko504:
Question: As Tilly refers to herself with neutral pronouns, what is the proper word for them in a relationship? Neither boyfriend nor girlfriend seems right, and I'm stuck thinking of a word that would be suitable in this situation.
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TheEvilDog:
--- Quote from: OldGoat on 21 Dec 2017, 21:52 ---
--- Quote from: Penquin47 on 21 Dec 2017, 17:02 ---So it's not as simple as "Use thou when you would use I/she/he, thee when you would use me/her/him, thy when you would use my/her/his, and thine for mine/hers/his"?
--- End quote ---
But we (all English speakers, not just non-binary folk or the denzians of this forum) are struggling with third (spoken of) person pronouns and thee/thou/thine is second (spoken to) person. Using "them" just shifts the awkward bit from number to person. (I can still hear Sister Mary Knucklewhacker making us chant, "Person, Number, Gender, Case.)
No one faction gets to declare changes to languages, especially English - the larger community will have to arrive at consensus.
--- End quote ---
But by the same token, the community doesn't get to decide how to define how a person gets referred to. If someone wishes to be referred to as "They/Them", that's okay. Its certainly easier than to use that than to force another word to be used.
English, as with any other language, is not set in stone. It is a dynamic construct, subject to various outside influences, more so considering it is the lingua franca of the world right now. The meaning and use of words change constantly, so what if someone wants to use a neutral term? Why should we force them to use another term? What right do we have to ask that of them? I should imagine that we can be mature enough to realise when we should go with the flow when dealing with anyone.
gajatko:
Uhm I'm a long-reader of the comic but new to forum and I'm amazed what's going on here. It's second time I'm here. Previously there was a discussion whether Sam will be raped or not, now some gender-related stuff which I wouldn't even think of. Tally's clearly a girl and grammar-nazi or whatever. IMHO plot's nice but tiring a bit and I feel that it's good it comes to an end finally.
snufflebottoms:
--- Quote from: hakko504 on 22 Dec 2017, 14:33 ---Question: As Tilly refers to herself with neutral pronouns, what is the proper word for them in a relationship? Neither boyfriend nor girlfriend seems right, and I'm stuck thinking of a word that would be suitable in this situation.
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--- End quote ---
significant other
Perfectly Reasonable:
I guess that's less awkward than "They're my themfriend", which is what I was about to offer....
Relentless Onward!
Hannelore has strengthened her spine and burned a bridge.
Beatrice has had 'using people as tools' thrown in her face. To put on the mantelpiece with 'neglectful parenting'.
Tilly is absorbing fluids.
But wait! What do I hear? Out of the sunrise... It's...
Sara! Riding an allosaurus! Yay!
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