Discussing singular “they” at work, now that it’s the word of the year.
Coworker: I can’t even remember your name, how am I supposed to remember your preferred pronouns? Is it rude if I call someone he or she now?
Me: Well, no. It’s like you had a teacher, Mr. Smith. And then you graduated high school, and you said “Hey Mr. Smith!” And he said “Oh please, call me Bob.” You calling him Mr. Smith just then wasn’t necessarily rude, but if you continued to call him Mr. Smith and not Bob after he asked you to call him Bob, that’d be rude.
Coworker: Yeah, that makes sense.
Me: So if you had a friend John, and you said “so John, he’s my friend” and John said “oh, my preferred pronouns are they/them now”, you making the mistake of using “he” wasn’t necessarily wrong or rude. But if you continued to use he/him now that they asked you to use they/them, that would be rude.
Coworker: wow that’s a great example.
It’s that easy, folx.