I'm a Nyan Foggedy and this week I have all the details about the singular they changes

to the AP style book and the Chicago Manual of Style that I promised we'd talk about.

It was only about a year and a half ago that I did a show about using they as a singular

pronoun.

But I told you this was an active area of language change and there's been enough

new change that you need an update.

When we're talking about the singular they, we're usually talking about using they in sentences

like these.

Tell the next caller they want a car.

Every student should thank their teacher who left their coat on the playground.

In those sentences we're talking about one person but we don't know whether that person

is male or female.

In the past people might have written tell the next caller he want a car or tell the

next caller he or she want a car.

But as we'll see more people are starting to accept the pronoun they in sentences like

these.

So back at the end of 2015 Bill Walsh admitted the singular they into the Washington

Post style guide.

In the attendees of the American dialect society annual meeting voted to make the singular

they the word of the year.

Now both the AP style book and the Chicago Manual of Style have updated their style guides

to be more accepting of they as a gender neutral singular pronoun.

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