Liberal YouTubers

Rhiannon12866

(233,198 posts) Fri May 2, 2025, 05:25 AM 17 hrs ago

Stephen Colbert - Guest Columbia University linguistics professor and bestselling author John McWhorter

It's Not Fair That "Y'all" Is Considered Slang - John McWhorter

Columbia University linguistics professor and bestselling author John McWhorter discusses some of the quirks of the English language and explains why one of Stephen's favorite Southern words will always be considered slang. McWhorter's book "Pronoun Trouble" is available now.

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Stephen Colbert - Guest Columbia University linguistics professor and bestselling author John McWhorter (Original Post) Rhiannon12866 17 hrs ago OP

His suggestion to clarify the singular "they" TommyT139 16 hrs ago #1

I agree - and thanks so much! Rhiannon12866 16 hrs ago #2

You're welcome! TommyT139 16 hrs ago #3

He is really interesting! Thanks for sharing this, Rhi! ❤️ littlemissmartypants 16 hrs ago #4

Thanks! And I agree, I've seen him before and he's very interesting, smart and has a sense of humor... Rhiannon12866 15 hrs ago #5

You're welcome! ❤️ littlemissmartypants 15 hrs ago #6

he is as funny as many comedians rampartd 10 hrs ago #7

TommyT139

(1,315 posts)

1. His suggestion to clarify the singular "they"

Reply to Rhiannon12866 (Original post)

Fri May 2, 2025, 06:03 AM

16 hrs ago

...is to capitalize it when written. It's a good idea, I think -- we're used to captalizing "I," and there's history of capitalizing other pronouns in English. Here's his recent essay in the NYT:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/27/opinion/pronouns-they-language-capital.html

https://archive.ph/a6Jjf

Rhiannon12866

(233,198 posts)

2. I agree - and thanks so much!

Reply to TommyT139 (Reply #1)

Fri May 2, 2025, 06:04 AM

16 hrs ago

TommyT139

(1,315 posts)

3. You're welcome!

Reply to Rhiannon12866 (Reply #2)

Fri May 2, 2025, 06:22 AM

16 hrs ago

He has a few other columns on adjacent topics, some below this essay. In the archived page, you can right-click/long-press to open up that link in another tab, archived already (if it's in their system). Master key to the rabbit hole!

On most topics I find him a bit too conservative, but he's got a good workaround here. And as a conservative, he's well-placed to help move acceptance of nonbinary pronouns forward -- the ones he likes, anyway!