The other day, as I was looking through some back issues at the Summerland Review, I noticed once again how much our language and way of writing have changed in recent years.
The news articles and the letters to the editor had a much more formal tone than the writing of today.
Contractions don鈥檛 show up too often in writing from earlier decades. Today, they鈥檙e much more common.
Still, one writer I respect today is adamant that contractions shouldn鈥檛 be used in written English. They鈥檙e fine in dialogue, but nowhere else.
I have also read plenty of contemporary fiction and nonfiction where this rule is broken.
The phrase, 鈥渆xcited for,鈥� doesn鈥檛 appear in the older newspapers, and I know some writers who avoid it because they believe it should be 鈥渆xcited about.鈥�
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But others, especially entertainment writers, have no qualms about 鈥渆xcited for.鈥�
Words like 鈥渄ata鈥� and 鈥減lan鈥� were around in the 1920s, but the term 鈥渄ata plan鈥� is something much more recent, describing something that did not exist until quite recently.
Policeman and fireman were common in past decades, but today those words sound archaic. Now we have police officers and firefighters. We also have councillors instead of aldermen.
Even the use of slurs and obscenities has been changing. Some terms, once uttered freely, are no longer spoken, while words once considered offensive can be heard everywhere, and are even finding their way into print.
Each year, when linguists and lexicographers announce their choice for the word of the year, writers will take notice.
Recently, the use of the word 鈥渢hey鈥� came into the conversation as the editors of Merriam-Webster listed it as their word of the year for 2019.
It has become used as an inclusive way to refer to people without making reference to gender.
The word, particularly 鈥渢hey鈥� as a singular term, attracted a lot of attention during the past year.
But this isn鈥檛 the first time the singular 鈥渢hey鈥� has received attention.
In 2015, the American Dialect Association selected 鈥渢hey鈥� as their word of the year, since it was coming into use by some who do not use 鈥渉e鈥� or 鈥渟he鈥� as their pronouns of choice.
I have heard the singular 鈥渢hey鈥� since the early 1980s, and for many years, the Canadian Press Stylebook 鈥� the style guide used by most English-language newspapers in Canada 鈥� has allowed 鈥渢hey鈥� as a singular word, but only if there is no other reasonable way to structure a sentence.
The style guide also notes that the singular use of they is increasingly accepted.
Still, quite a few writers believe 鈥渢hey鈥� must always refer to groups of people, never just one person.
However, not all linguists and lexicographers identified 鈥渢hey鈥� as their word of choice last year.
The people at Oxford Dictionaries chose 鈥渃limate emergency鈥� as their term for 2019.
The term was prominent over the past year. It reflects a shift in dialogue about climate-related discussions.
By the end of this year, Merriam-Webster, Oxford Dictionaries and other organizations will likely select different terms as their word or phrase of the year.
These designations are important because the English language is changing and evolving. New words and changes in meaning are signs that our language is a vibrant and living language, adapting to the needs of its speakers.
I won鈥檛 say I鈥檓 excited for the choices of 鈥渢hey鈥� and 鈥渃limate emergency鈥� as words of the year, but that鈥檚 only because I dislike the phrase, 鈥渆xcited for.鈥�
However, I will take note when a new word of phrase enters our lexicon, or when the meaning or usage of a familiar word begins to change.
After all, I need to watch my language.
John Arendt is the editor of the Summerland Review.
To report a typo, email:
news@summerlandreview.com.
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