'They' beats 'the' to 2019's word of the year

Merriam-Webster dictionary says look-ups for its winner have boomed since it became a favoured pronoun for non-binary individuals

They, a common pronoun that can be traced back to the 13th century, has been named word of the year by Merriam-Webster dictionary because of its growing usage for non-binary individuals.

The US dictionary, which has been in print for more than 150 years, said that look-ups for “they” increased by 313% in 2019 compared with the previous year, as the public investigated the word’s shifting use and its increasing prominence in the news.

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