Online dictionary site Dictionary.com reveals it has scrapped binary-gendered phrases like ‘his or her’ and ‘he or she’, in favour of ‘they,’ in its latest update.
The online English-language and educational resource says the changes have been made for reasons of “inclusivity and usage”, with binary-gendered phrases having previously appeared in hundreds of entries.
“On the inclusivity side, his or her does not include people who use other pronouns,” explains Grant Barrett, head of lexicography at Dictionary.com.
“In terms of usage, ‘they’ is simply much more common as a generic pronoun than he or she, including in spoken and all but the most formal types of written English.
“Updating binary-gendered phrases makes the entries more similar to how people actually speak and write. The entries are now more natural-sounding,” he adds.
In addition to axing binary-gendered phrases, the dictionary site has introduced a raft of new words and phrases for 2023 such as ‘nepo baby’ and ‘greenwashing.’ The former, referring to celebrity children following in the career footsteps of their well-known parents or relatives, and the latter, company PR spin to make products and businesses appear more environmentally- friendly than they are.
The online dictionary site has announced a total of 566 new entries, 348 new definitions for existing entries and 2,256 revised definitions, as it works to keep pace with the ever-changing English language.
Some of the key themes and words for the autumn 2023 update include pop culture and slang (jawn, nepo baby, NIL, shower orange); modern problems (information pollution, greenwashing, Big Pharma); artificial intelligence (generative AI, hallucinate, GPT); science and tech (biohacking, algo); health and wellness (decision fatigue, coffee nap, intermittent fasting) identity and relationships (grandfamily, box braids, CODA, gay marry, amalgagender); and climate and extreme weather (climate criminal, climate refugee, atmospheric river).
Dictionary.com says it is also appealing to word lovers with terms like sonder, mountweazel and accismus, and is highlighting how English continues to borrow directly from other languages with additions like jolabokaflod, kakeibo and hanbok.
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