They has always referred to a person of an unspecified gender:
"Why don't you ask someone if they could go with you"
"They" does not refer to more than one person in this instance.
You learned something here today.
Unspecified gender because not referring to a specific person. Not the gender fluidity and other PC BS that is currently highjacking our language.
3d below is recent and [ deposit from a bull that looks like Art Briles ] IMO. There are only two sexes. You can identify as a nonbinary giraffe if you want but you either have an outie or an innie and therefore a corresponding pronoun.
Your welcome.
Definition of they
1: those ones : those people, animals, or thingsThey dance well.What do they want to do?They aren't as popular as they once were.
2—used to refer to people in a general way or to a group of people who are not specifiedYou know what they say.People can do what they want.They say the trial could go on for weeks.He's as lazy as they come.
3a—used with a singular indefinite pronoun antecedentNo one has to go if they don't want to.Everyone knew where they stood …— E. L. Doctorow
b—used with a singular antecedent to refer to an unknown or unspecified personAn employee with a grievance can file a complaint if they need to.The person who answered the phone said they didn't know where she was.
c—used to refer to a single person whose gender is intentionally not revealedA student was found with a knife and a BB gun in their backpack Monday, district spokeswoman Renee Murphy confirmed. The student, whose name has not been released, will be disciplined according to district policies, Murphy said. They also face charges from outside law enforcement, she said.— Olivia Krauth
d—used to refer to a single person whose
gender identity is nonbinary (see
NONBINARY sense c)I knew certain things about … the person I was interviewing.… They had adopted their gender-neutral name a few years ago, when they began to consciously identify as nonbinary—that is, neither male nor female. They were in their late 20s, working as an event planner, applying to graduate school.— Amy Harmon
3d is recent and [ deposit from a bull that looks like Art Briles ] IMO. Until very recently "they" was used where gender was indefinite because you were not referring to a specific person. Not the gender fluidity and other PC BS that has highjacked our language.
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