Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

How can you be addressed as he/him she/her or they/them

80 replies

Yalta · 08/02/2025 14:30

AIBU that you cannot be addressed as he/him she/her or they/them

These are references. Surely you would use someone’s actual name to address them or just a greeting.

Or maybe I am missing something. Can someone tell me how someone uses these to address someone

“Hello He”

“Good morning She”

“Good afternoon They

How are you today”

Or writings to you

Dear He/Him They/Them She/Her

Why did no one check this and change the word address to refer. It just makes no sense otherwise

This is from a .gov website

OP posts:
Yalta · 08/02/2025 14:32

Screenshot of the form

How can you be addressed as he/him she/her or they/them
OP posts:
Yalta · 08/02/2025 14:33

Hopefully screen shot of the form will be passed to be displayed soon

OP posts:
Funkyslippers · 08/02/2025 14:36

It's a preference of the way someone would like to be addressed if you're talking about them within earshot of them

MrsJHernandez · 08/02/2025 14:42

The whole thing makes no sense.

At the risk of being vilified, I think it's ridiculous to call someone "they" or whatever. It makes no sense in the English language and makes people sound like they can't speak properly. Medically, there are two sexes and Dr's will treat you as such.

Call yourself what you like, but keep the rest of us out of your "woke" gen z bullshit!

BloodandGlitter · 08/02/2025 14:45

MrsJHernandez · 08/02/2025 14:42

The whole thing makes no sense.

At the risk of being vilified, I think it's ridiculous to call someone "they" or whatever. It makes no sense in the English language and makes people sound like they can't speak properly. Medically, there are two sexes and Dr's will treat you as such.

Call yourself what you like, but keep the rest of us out of your "woke" gen z bullshit!

I use they to describe people all the time! How the heck is it woke? "They said" "They did" "They want" just a general description.

Big case of everything I don't like is "woke"

Brokenrecordroundround · 08/02/2025 14:45

MrsJHernandez · 08/02/2025 14:42

The whole thing makes no sense.

At the risk of being vilified, I think it's ridiculous to call someone "they" or whatever. It makes no sense in the English language and makes people sound like they can't speak properly. Medically, there are two sexes and Dr's will treat you as such.

Call yourself what you like, but keep the rest of us out of your "woke" gen z bullshit!

Except you just used they as a pronoun in your post, "it makes people sound like they can't speak", if you were talking about one person who makes this form and didn't know their sex you'd still say "it sounds like they can't speak". Acting like they is a a new woke gen z invention is ridiculous whether you agree with it or not, it is and always has been perfectly acceptable in English and you use it all the time without considering it woke.

wherearemypastnames · 08/02/2025 14:46

There are 2 sexes but a lot of the time it's irrelevant, or even harmful to one sex , for the sex to be advertised
. I rather wish they was the default not the sex based stuff we tend to use

They / them works perfectly well and has apparently been used for a singular person since Shakespeare times. And I prefer it to he/she for a person not determined ( like a role being created )

YousayPassataISaypeastta · 08/02/2025 14:47

It was all the rage a few years ago and thankfully seems to be going away.

MelisandeLongfield · 08/02/2025 14:51

'Addressed as' is incorrect, it should be 'referred to'.

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 08/02/2025 14:52

DH received a letter from some administrator at the local college about a local event. It was signed Tom Smith he/him *

So DH replied ‘Dear Mr. Smith He/him …..

So it can be used directly 😂
Name* changed to protect the guilty.

MrsJHernandez · 08/02/2025 14:55

"I borrowed "they" pencil.

That's "they" dog

It just doesn't work with every sentence.

@BloodandGlitter
@Brokenrecordroundround
@wherearemypastnames

HipMax · 08/02/2025 14:55

Funkyslippers · 08/02/2025 14:36

It's a preference of the way someone would like to be addressed if you're talking about them within earshot of them

But that isn't the question asked, is it?

Dontlletmedownbruce · 08/02/2025 14:55

Yes it seems only relevant to when you are speaking of a person in their absence, in which case you can call them what you like as they can't hear you!

As far as I've always been told it's rude to speak of a person in their presence as a pronoun. For example with a customer it would be rude to say to a colleague 'she needs a new appointment..', it's manners to use the customers name 'Joan needs an appointment..' or if it's a more casual situation like in a restaurant you might say 'our customer needs another napkin'. But the instances of this are quite rare. The other example I can think of is cc'ing on emails 'Paul asked that you ring him'. Again, rare enough usage.

Personally I have no issue with a trans person situation but I refuse to call a person 'them'. We are all 1 person only, no one gets to be a plural IMO. If people are absolutely adamant to use a gender neutral term they need to use their imagination and come up with a new word.

DragonfliesAboveYourBed · 08/02/2025 14:58

MrsJHernandez · 08/02/2025 14:55

"I borrowed "they" pencil.

That's "they" dog

It just doesn't work with every sentence.

@BloodandGlitter
@Brokenrecordroundround
@wherearemypastnames

Edited

But they isn't the equivalent of his and hers. It's the equivalent of he and she.

His and hers is equivalent to their.

I mean, I never put my pronouns on anything, and don't care what people call me. But people use "they" all the time. DH had a phone call with the dr the other day, a dr I don't know. He said "just got off the phone with the dr" and I said "what did they say?"

Brokenrecordroundround · 08/02/2025 15:00

MrsJHernandez · 08/02/2025 14:55

"I borrowed "they" pencil.

That's "they" dog

It just doesn't work with every sentence.

@BloodandGlitter
@Brokenrecordroundround
@wherearemypastnames

Edited

You borrowed their pencil, that's their dog. Is English not your first language for you to be so confused by this?

researchers3 · 08/02/2025 15:06

MrsJHernandez · 08/02/2025 14:42

The whole thing makes no sense.

At the risk of being vilified, I think it's ridiculous to call someone "they" or whatever. It makes no sense in the English language and makes people sound like they can't speak properly. Medically, there are two sexes and Dr's will treat you as such.

Call yourself what you like, but keep the rest of us out of your "woke" gen z bullshit!

What an ignorant post. - Gramatically and otherwise.

heyhopotato · 08/02/2025 15:20

Your problem is you're trying to make sense of the government.

MrsJHernandez · 08/02/2025 15:33

researchers3 · 08/02/2025 15:06

What an ignorant post. - Gramatically and otherwise.

If you say so.

CasperGutman · 08/02/2025 15:35

MrsJHernandez · 08/02/2025 14:55

"I borrowed "they" pencil.

That's "they" dog

It just doesn't work with every sentence.

@BloodandGlitter
@Brokenrecordroundround
@wherearemypastnames

Edited

Weird post.

My son asked me what he should do if his pencil broke at school and he didn't have a spare. I suggested he should ask the person next to him and see if he could borrow one from them.

See, it makes perfect sense. English-speakers use "they" and "them" as gender neutral third person singular pronouns all the time. I did it above because I don't know whether the person next to my sone at some unknown future time will be male or female.

Yalta · 08/02/2025 15:38

BloodandGlitter · 08/02/2025 14:45

I use they to describe people all the time! How the heck is it woke? "They said" "They did" "They want" just a general description.

Big case of everything I don't like is "woke"

I use “they” to refer to people too

But I don’t address them as they. I am struggling to see how you can

MelisandeLongfield

Exactly

Allthegoodnamesarechosen

That’s hilarious. I wonder if you can send a letter back and say it isn’t for you because you aren’t Miss Yalta She/Her

or if you ever see someone Say “Hello Mr Tom Smith He/Him and keep referring to him as Tom Smith He/Him.

OP posts:
titchy · 08/02/2025 15:41

I don't like the addition of pronouns at all, but surely you've realised they're not indicating they are to be used as a form of address? Confused

VickyEadieofThigh · 08/02/2025 15:41

A couple of months ago, I was in a meeting and referred to someone new to the organisation (who wasn't there and whom I'd only heard of through a name on a document) as "he". Another person told me "James (not real name) identifies as they/them". After letting tumbleweed blow across the room, I continued speaking.

Imagine my joy at the next meeting when the same person referred to 'James' using "he".

Yalta · 08/02/2025 15:44

researchers3 · 08/02/2025 15:06

What an ignorant post. - Gramatically and otherwise.

How do you address someone as They

“Hi they”?

OP posts:
Yalta · 08/02/2025 15:45

titchy · 08/02/2025 15:41

I don't like the addition of pronouns at all, but surely you've realised they're not indicating they are to be used as a form of address? Confused

But that is what it says

OP posts:
Brokenrecordroundround · 08/02/2025 15:48

Yalta · 08/02/2025 15:44

How do you address someone as They

“Hi they”?

When you you ever use pronouns as a direct address? You don't say "Hi She"do you? Obviously you use a pronoun to replace a noun. "Hey Nina" Vs "have you seen Nina? Yes she was just here" with she replacing Nina. People are so determined to claim everything woke they're forgetting basic standard English they learnt as children.