English is a vast, glorious language, yet even with its incredible number of words, it feels like it鈥檚 still missing some absolute basics. The lack of these words leads to either lengthy clarifications or awkward situations鈥攍ike getting stuck taking your friend鈥檚 llama to the flea market (more on that below). Of course, we can鈥檛 just go adding words to the dictionary all willy-nilly, but if enough people adopt these neologisms into their everyday conversations, they could become bona fide. So start using them today, and be sure to tell us your own ideas for new words!
hoh/hon/hons
You鈥檝e probably seen 鈥渢heir,鈥� and 鈥渢hey鈥� becoming increasingly acceptable as gender-neutral singular pronouns, but admit it, you鈥檝e never really been satisfied with that solution, have you? Depending on the context, 鈥渢heir鈥� and 鈥渢hey鈥� can result in confusion about whether the speaker is referring to singular or plural subjects or objects. Let鈥檚 get rid of the ambiguity with the new words 鈥渉oh,鈥� 鈥渉on鈥� and 鈥渉ons鈥濃€攔espectively, the singular subject, object and possessive pronouns when the person鈥檚 gender is unknown or not identified as he/him/his or she/her/hers.
Of course, other attempts have been and are being made to come up with gender-neutral or gender-inclusive pronouns (ze is a front runner at the moment). But hoh/hon/hons would have the advantage of linking back to (most of) the original singular gender-specific pronouns with the initial 鈥渉鈥� but then have the rest of the word completely distinct. What do you think? Use them with a friend today, and get hon to use them, too!
wel
As long as we鈥檙e adding new pronouns, we might as well clear up the awkwardness that can result from the ambiguity of 鈥渨e.鈥� We鈥檙e not referring to the royal 鈥渨e,鈥� because nobody should use 鈥渨e鈥� when they鈥檙e referring to only themselves. Sorry, 鈥渉onselves.鈥� We鈥檙e talking about when you tell your friend Jasmine, 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to the sawmill,鈥� and Jasmine is left to wonder if she鈥檚 invited to go with you.
Instead, let鈥檚 reserve 鈥渨e鈥� to mean 鈥渨e, including you鈥� and add the word 鈥渨el鈥� to mean 聽鈥渨e, but not you.鈥� Then Jasmine will know to have hurt feelings when you say to her, 鈥淲el鈥檙e going to the sawmill.鈥�
andor/orand
鈥淎ndor鈥� operates in the same way as the traditional 鈥渁nd/or,鈥� leaving open three equally probably or desirable possibilities: 1) A and B, 2) just A, or 3) just B. For example, 鈥淒o you andor your llama want to join me at the flea market?鈥� means 鈥淒o both you and your llama, or just you, or just your llama want to join me at the flea market?鈥�
Well, what if you want to go to the flea market with Jasmine and you鈥檙e okay with her bringing her llama, but you do not want to go with just her llama? That鈥檚 when the mighty 鈥渙rand鈥� comes into play. Asking Jasmine, 鈥淒o you orand your llama want to join me at the flea market?鈥� only has two possible meanings: A) just Jasmine or B) Jasmine and her llama. You鈥檙e not in the llama-sitting business, after all.
Have your own?
Don鈥檛 forget to tell us your ideas for new words, or even your own take on the suggestions above. You can chime in with a comment on or !
