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#1474978
nazani14
In spoken standard Mandarin Chinese, there is no gender distinction in personal pronouns: the pronoun ta (?) can mean "he", "she", or "it".
That's a hell of a lot more people than any European nation.
11/27/2012 12:48:27 PM
#1474990
nkd
Is it not the beginning of an apocalypse?
Ummm, no.
11/27/2012 1:14:17 PM
#1475021
Canadiest
This nonsense has traction now, it's the third reference to this non event I've seen recently.
It's a slippery slope argument they're trying to implant into the flocks paranoid delusions.
The echo chambers just getting started on this one, I expect to hear it from several other wingnuts soon.
Boggles the mind. I watched a Noel Feilding's Luxury Comedy episode yesterday and realized it makes as much sense as end-timers delusion ever do. I blame Ice-Cream Ice.
11/27/2012 2:32:03 PM
#1475024
Old Viking
Mark Twain's essay, "The Awful German Language, is a hilarious take on this subject. (Pay no attention to this recommendation, Heleventia; I know you don't read.)
11/27/2012 2:34:58 PM
#1475034
SpukiKitty
"My narrow perceptions on gender expression are in peril! The world is going to explode like a hotel toilet in the vicinity of Keith Moon!"
11/27/2012 2:55:07 PM
#1475073
John
I'm not qualified to comment on Swedish. But in the US, I don't see a big problem with calling someone a "chairperson" instead of "chairman" or calling someone a "congressional representative" instead of a "congressman".
@Old Viking: that essay is indeed hilarious. I recommend it to everyone.
11/27/2012 4:26:11 PM
#1475134
Raised by Horses
@John, Old Viking
I third that motion. Great read.
11/27/2012 7:07:54 PM
#1475178
freako104
No it's not. It's bullshit as is your apocalypse
11/27/2012 9:57:34 PM
#1475249
Chris
@ Kulgur
Yeah I know they speak Swedish in Sweden and Finnish (and also Swedish) in Finland.
I was wondering if the original posters head could be made to explode if they learnt that languages exist that don't even have gender related pronouns. That was why I used Finnish as an example.
11/28/2012 4:54:28 AM
#1475253
shykid
@John, Old Viking, Raised By Horses: I can't help but fifth this. Screw fourth.
11/28/2012 5:04:37 AM
#1475255
Justanotheratheist
Fearing God is sensible? Trying to have a conversation with a cactus is more sensible than that, and no, semantics do not an apocalypse maketh.
11/28/2012 5:13:40 AM
#1475262
farpadokly
Things must get awful confusing in that Swedish school.
About the reference to mother and father being done away with. So what? Will the mother and father cease to exist?
11/28/2012 5:49:21 AM
#1475266
KittyKaboom
11/28/2012 6:00:16 AM
#1475288
Swede
No, it's the stupidity of a few individuals. Trying to restrict what words people are allowed to use will not work. Offensive, racist and discriminatory words, yes perhaps, but not everyday normal words.
The point is, I believe, that a new word for s/he in Swedish was invented recently ("han" and "hon" was mixed into "hen"). It's a good word to use when you are not talking about a specific person, when you don't know what gender the person has. But it's a bit silly to use it when you are talking about a particular person, who you know to be a male, or a female.
When an average parent is spoken of, it is better, I think, to use the word "parent", than to take for granted that all carers of children are "mothers".
11/28/2012 7:21:58 AM
#1476064
WWWWolf
> seriously a Swedish school banned the use of gender related pronouns like he, she, him etc.
About damn time our good neighbours follow the times! We've never had to deal with that shit in Finnish schools.
(Except perhaps in Swedish/English/etc lessons. Because there's no gender-specific pronouns in Finnish language to begin with.)
11/29/2012 11:36:07 AM
#1476728
Alleigh
@Swede: But what about those of us who were raised by people other than our parents? Why are you discriminating against us?!
No, really, I don't care. I managed to get through years of making Mother's and Father's Day things in school and giving them to my grandparents. Shockingly, I still knew who the people raising me were, even though everyone around me tended to say "parents."
But of course, children today are much stupider, and will be confused even if you call their actual parents "parents." How will they ever know which parent is which if you don't say mother and father?
12/1/2012 12:40:28 AM
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