That’s what ‘they’ said

Linguists love how people are using this pronoun now [Click here to view this message in your web-browser](. Edition: US 11 January 2020 [The Conversation]( [Support The Conversation in 2020 with a monthly gift]( [Nick Lehr] A note from... Nick Lehr Arts + Culture Editor USC Dornsife Ph.D. candidate Reed Blaylock spent this past weekend at the American Dialect Society’s annual conference, where he and more than 200 linguists voted on the 2019 “Word of the Year.” They also voted on the “Word of the Decade.” Pronouns prevailed. Blaylock explains why [linguists are so excited about the popularity of the singular “they”]( – and why it hasn’t been easy for everyone to seamlessly adopt it in everyday speech. This week we also liked stories about what happens when [literally tons of animals die at once](, what [Soleimani’s funeral had in common with mass mourning during the American Colonial era]( and where the [limits to government assistance should be set](. The American Dialect Society chose ‘they’ as its ‘Word of the Decade.’ abstract_art7/Shutterstock.com [For linguists, it was the decade of the pronoun]( Reed Blaylock, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences Pronouns rarely, if ever, change. Then along came the gender nonbinary 'they,' which was just anointed ‘word of the decade.’ To understand the effects of a big die-off, researchers set up experiments with wild boar carcasses. Brandon Barton, Mississippi State University [Rotting feral pig carcasses teach scientists what happens when tons of animals die all at once, as in Australia’s bushfires]( Brandon Barton, Mississippi State University; Abby Jones, Mississippi State University Death is a natural part of ecosystems. But it's unusual for a large number of animals to all die at once. Researchers are investigating how a mass mortality event affects what's left afterwards. Your own biases shape what you think about what the poor should eat. Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images [Should government assistance cover pet food or potato chips? It depends who you ask]( Steven Shepherd, Oklahoma State University; Troy Campbell, University of Oregon An often invisible force is undercutting support for policies that help Americans facing economic hardship. - [Iran plane crash: here is what happens during an air disaster investigation]( Graham Braithwaite, Cranfield University Crash investigators never give black boxes to aircraft makers but involve them in the process. - [What Trump’s tweet threatening Iran’s cultural sites could mean for Shiite Muslims]( Kishwar Rizvi, Yale University Trump recently warned Iran that the US could target its cultural sites. Many of Iran's cultural sites carry deep religious meaning for a global Shii community and such a threat risks alienating them. - [Coyotes are poised to enter South America for the first time]( Roland Kays, North Carolina State University Coyotes, whose range is expanding, are now at the doorstep of South America. - [Large turnouts for Soleimani’s funeral in Iran carry powerful collective emotions – just as Americans saw during the colonial era]( - [Matching Vietnamese brides with Chinese men, marriage brokers find good business – and sometimes love]( - [AI can now read emotions – should it?]( - [Moving Bureau of Land Management headquarters to Colorado won’t be good for public lands]( - [China can still salvage ‘one country, two systems’ in Hong Kong – here’s how]( - [Should college funding be tied to how many students graduate?]( - [I’m an OB/GYN who attended thousands of deliveries before wondering why Americans give birth in bed]( - [Tweets about cannabis’ health benefits are full of mistruths]( - [Unemployment pushes more men to take on female-dominated jobs]( - [Trump, like Obama, tests the limits of presidential war powers]( - [The US-Iran conflict and the consequences of international law-breaking]( [The Conversation brings you new research and analysis from experts. Please donate and help us thrive.]( [Follow us on Twitter.]( [Join us on Facebook.]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation](. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe instantly](. We’ll miss you. 89 South Street - Suite 202 Boston, MA 02111