‘They’ is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year

‘They’ is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year

What does the 2019 word of the year mean?

In a big stride for gender inclusivity, Merriam-Webster announced on Tuesday, 10 December, that the non-binary pronoun ‘they’ was their word of the year.

Merrian-Webster reported that they made this decision after looking at their data: searches for ‘they’ increased by 313 per cent in 2019 than in 2018.

They is the pronoun used to refer to non-binary people, just like she is for women and he is for men.

The word became the topic of much discussion this year when British singer-songwriter Sam Smith came out as non-binary in March and added in September through Instagram that their prefered pronouns were "they/them.”

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Besides, the term they is also prefered when writing about someone when their gender is unknown, rather assuming it as a ‘he’.

Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster added that "Pronouns are among the language's most commonly used words, and like other common words (think go, do, and have) they tend to be mostly ignored by dictionary users.But over the past year or so, as people have increasingly encountered the nonbinary use, we've seen searches for 'they' grow dramatically,” reported CNN.

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