Monday, August 13, 2007: Focus

Discussion of any of the archived O&M comics, and potential new ones should they ever come about.

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Uzi4U
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Postby Uzi4U » Tue Aug 14, 2007 2:08 am

They're pronouns, used to refer to people of unknown gender in the third person.

Xyr = his/her
Xe = he/she
I checked Wikipedia. Those pronouns are defined in one paper by some guy who I'm sure doesn't have the authority to change the English language. Image
Well, that's the interesting thing about the English language- it's a living language, and is open to an "informal" change.
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You see, when I saw "looks awesome", it's not a request.

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Fritz
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Postby Fritz » Tue Aug 14, 2007 2:53 am

YOU ARE BOTH SUSPENDED

Uzi4U
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Postby Uzi4U » Tue Aug 14, 2007 3:48 am

YOU ARE BOTH SUSPENDED
Gonna buy us the suspenders?
Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks.--- Thomas Jefferson

You see, when I saw "looks awesome", it's not a request.

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Æron
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Postby Æron » Tue Aug 14, 2007 3:50 am

How do you pronounce xe?

Otherwise, I like the idea of a gender neutral pronoun in the english language. It always did bother me when I had to use his/her or a plural like they where gender neutrality was required.

*integrates xe/xer/xyr into vocabulary*

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Postby CodeCat » Tue Aug 14, 2007 10:42 am

Well, there was always 'it' for that purpose. I don't know what happened to it today...
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Gizensha
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Postby Gizensha » Tue Aug 14, 2007 2:09 pm

Pronunciation wise - I believe the x is pronounced as in xeon, so xe is pronounced ze, xyr is pronounced so that it rhymes with her, (zer) [though I tend to pronounce it zier], xem is pronounced so that it rhymes with him (zim) [but I tend to pronounce it zem].

Would be able to say this with more confidence if I wasn't using a wikipedia history page, and if I could find something where these pronunciations are explicitly defined.
Well, there was always 'it' for that purpose. I don't know what happened to it today...
No, it is for inanimate objects. Referring to someone with the 'it' pronoun is just icky. "Each player should roll the die. The person with the highest roll should take its turn."

It's either sounds rude or overly clinical. Possibly both.
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Tom Flapwell
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Postby Tom Flapwell » Tue Aug 14, 2007 2:37 pm

Meanwhile, I've seen "zie" and "zur" used to refer to hermaphrodites. Note the difference in spelling but not pronunciation.
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Gizensha
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Postby Gizensha » Tue Aug 14, 2007 2:47 pm

Meanwhile, I've seen "zie" and "zur" used to refer to hermaphrodites. Note the difference in spelling but not pronunciation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-neu ... Neologisms

There are a whole host of options. Apparently, Jim Sinclair coined Xe due to being unhappy with the already existent GNP neologisms due to feeling that they were all biased either towards male (he derived) or female (she derived)
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Muninn
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Postby Muninn » Wed Aug 15, 2007 3:38 pm

I'll stick to he/she and his/her. All these xe things seems like an unnecessary excess of political correctness.

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nickspoon
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Postby nickspoon » Wed Aug 15, 2007 5:43 pm

He/she and his/her are awkward in spoken conversation. On the other hand, nobody understands you if you use xym or xe, and it sounds rude. I tend to use the singular 'they', but it doesn't sound right in all contexts.
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Postby Bocaj Claw » Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:44 pm

Referring to someone with the 'it' pronoun is just icky. "Each player should roll the die. The person with the highest roll should take its turn."

It's either sounds rude or overly clinical. Possibly both.
It rubs the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose again.
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Gizensha
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Postby Gizensha » Thu Aug 16, 2007 12:02 am

He/she and his/her are awkward in spoken conversation. On the other hand, nobody understands you if you use xym or xe, and it sounds rude. I tend to use the singular 'they', but it doesn't sound right in all contexts.
They ask, you tell them, rinse and repeat often enough and it penetrates into those people. They rinse and repeat often enough and it penetrates into society as a whole. Then the dictionaries hear of it, add it to their pages.

Tis how English works when it comes to lingual expansion :)
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Dr. Doog
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Postby Dr. Doog » Thu Aug 16, 2007 12:30 am

yeah. look at Bootylicious now! :D
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