Back in September, the Merriam-Webster dictionary added a new definition of the word “they,” including its use “to refer to a single person whose gender identity is non-binary.” And now, “they” has just been chosen as Word of the Year for 2019.
The selection is described as “entirely date driven” in Merriam-Webster’s official press release, with the word in question having to show “a significant increase in lookups over the previous year.”
It’s not really a surprise that searches for “they” have gone up, either — back in March, Oscar-winning singer Sam Smith opened up about being non-binary during an interview with Jameela Jamil, before going on to change their pronouns to “they/them” in September. “After a lifetime of being at war with my gender I've decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out,” wrote Smith. Read the full article.