On the Ted Radio Hour, linguist Anne Curzan says she gets a lot of complaints about people using the pronoun they to refer to one person.

I sometimes get into arguments with people where they will say to me, but it can't be singular, and I will say, but it is.

The history behind words causing a lot of debate that's on the TED radio hour from NPR.

Hello hello I'm Brittany Loose and you're listening to it's been a minute from

NPR a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen

by accident. This week we're connecting the dots between fake eyelashes, bleach, blonde hair,

and a lot of people yelling to strike those things from the record. I know, I know. How are all these things connected?

Well we're going to find out with Alana Wise. She covers race and identity for NPR and

writer Carrie Manders who has written a lot about queer culture and

butch identity. Alana, Carrie, welcome to it's been a minute.

Thanks for having me too, Brittany. It's great to have you both here. So the three of us are getting into what I'm calling the real house

wification of Congress. And when I say that, do you both know what I mean?

Oh yeah, it's like the back and forth the petty fights like you turn on C-SPAN and it's like wow when did I get premium cable?

Carrie I see you nodding along. Yes absolutely and the delight I'm seeing on

social media it's like people are loving these queens going after each other insulting each other's looks and intelligence.

Let me just give the listener some background.

So there have been many shiny examples of the real housewifeication of Congress over the past year. There was George Santos. Need I say more?

Bernie Sanders intervening in a near fist fight between a Republican senator and

a witness at a congressional hearing last fall.

And then last week, there were the words exchanged between Republican Representative

Marjorie Taylor Green and Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett. In an exchange with Crockett

during a routine House Committee hearing,

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