Tag: 3rd person gender neutral personal pronoun

14 Jan 2008

‘Yo’ as 3rd Person Gender Neutral Personal Pronoun in “The Wire”, Please Report Sightings

Since I know so many people who watch “The Wire” thought I’d help Mark over at Language Log out:

OK, you wireistas, listen up
Cosma Shalizi says “I’m pretty sure that some of the dialogue in The Wire uses ‘yo’ as, precisely, a gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun. Of course I’d have to re-watch the previous seasons to [...]

08 Jan 2008

Baltimore Gives More than The Wire: Yo qua 3rd Person, Gender Neutral, Personal Pronoun

Well, it is not something that I can put in for ‘they’ in formal writing. But it is a start. Unfortunately, some outlets do not understand the difference between a gendered noun and a gendered individual. Also, where is this flurry? I missed it. And I won’t use “qua” again today. Promise.

Yo
There’s been a flurry [...]