CLOVE AHHHH
Major dictionaries have recognized the singular “they” as grammatically correct for years, including the Oxford English Dictionary, Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, and dictionary.com. We’re not exactly making up new words and grammar rules here. The AP Style Guide, for the real grammar nerds among us, even allows the usage of singular “they” in cases where a subject doesn’t identify as male or female. (Not that the Associated Press is the arbiter of progressive, inclusive grammar — when Sam Smith shared they were nonbinary and asked fans to call them by they/them pronouns, the Associated Press wrote up the story using he/him.)
Beyond the singular “they” pronoun being correct grammatically, it’s also far from a modern invention. They has been used as a singular pronoun since at least the late 14th century, as seen in the circa-1375 French poem “William the Werewolf,” some argue it was likely in use much earlier. Other historical examples of gender-neutral pronouns range from literary — Jane Austen uses “they” in Pride and Prejudice — to medical, as when medical texts in the 1600s referred to individuals outside the gender binary as they/them. Neopronouns like “thon” and “hir” have similarly found strong footholds at different points in history, and as many as 250 gender-neutral English-language pronouns have been advocated for since the 1780s.
Clearly, the singular “they” isn’t exactly a modern-day fad, and gender-neutral pronouns have continued to make sense to a lot of people who know a lot about the English language. Why, then, does everyone get so hung up on this?