Pronouns???

[TarynH]

When taught in school that they are plural use, and having used them that way for 30 odd years, it is not easy for many to adjust.

I still remember talking to a dispatcher once, trying to explain that one person committed a crime. And every time I said "they," the dispatcher would stop me and ask if it was more than one person. We went through this exercise four times. Me explaining it was one person, and saying "Then they took off down the street." And the dispatcher responding "They? Was it more than one person?"

[Iscah]

I still remember talking to a dispatcher once, trying to explain that one person committed a crime. And every time I said "they," the dispatcher would stop me and ask if it was more than one person. We went through this exercise four times. Me explaining it was one person, and saying "Then they took off down the street." And the dispatcher responding "They? Was it more than one person?"

Honestly that's being over-picky in any case. Someone can easily use "they" to refer to a single person they (as it were) didn't see very well or couldn't recognise the gender at a glance.

[TarynH]

Honestly that's being over-picky in any case. Someone can easily use "they" to refer to a single person they (as it were) didn't see very well or couldn't recognise the gender at a glance.

Oh, it was extremely over-picky, and was starting to annoy me during the call. lol It just goes to show that pronouns can be very confusing to some people. Expecting everyone to conform to using them/they immediately, shows lack of patience and understanding. That's not to say some people purposefully misgender others, but most of the time it's simple confusion with language, or teething issues.