Themself?

[jefmcg]

I try not to tell facebook more than I have to. So my date of birth is more than 10 years wrong** and I've never told them my sex or gender.

So today, when I decided to mark myself "safe" in the "London Attacks" - I have a lot of friend overseas, and I worry about them so assume they worry about me - the language facebook used was "<jefmcg> marked themself safe during The Attack in London, United Kingdom. This is new to me. If I was using a gender neutral phrase, I use "themselves". And that is also what I hear. eg "If anyone in the Library still needs to use the computer, make themselves known to the librarians."

So, is "Themself" a thing, now? Aside: my spell checker doesn't thing so!

**considering changing that to 20 so I can be a millennial

 

[classic33]

I try not to tell facebook more than I have to. So my date of birth is more than 10 years wrong** and I've never told them my sex or gender.

So today, when I decided to mark myself "safe" in the "London Attacks" - I have a lot of friend overseas, and I worry about them so assume they worry about me - the language facebook used was "<jefmcg> marked themself safe during The Attack in London, United Kingdom. This is new to me. If I was using a gender neutral phrase, I use "themselves". And that is also what I hear. eg "If anyone in the Library still needs to use the computer, make themselves known to the librarians."

So, is "Themself" a thing, now? Aside: my spell checker doesn't thing so!

**considering changing that to 20 so I can be a millennial

It's a singularity, so why not.

Who cares what your spellchecker things!

 

[vickster]

Sounds a bit odd but it is grammatically correct for the singular form
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/themself

On the other hand, spellchecker 'things' something isn't in place of thinks

 

[classic33]

Sounds a bit odd but it is grammatically correct for the singular form
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/themself

On the other hand, spellchecker 'things' something isn't in place of thinks

Not running a spellchecker. See OP.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

It's a singularity, so why not.

Who cares what your spellchecker things!

The spell checker on my desktop computer can't spell.

 

[vickster]

Not running a spellchecker. See OP.

I don't follow sorry

 

[ColinJ]

I don't follow sorry

I thing it was a joke about a spellchecker not spotting that somethink was wrong?

 

[mjr]

The spell checker on my desktop can't spell.

That's a cat on your desk, that's why.

 

[LonesomeWanderer]

Isn't a spell checker some kind of Harry Potter thing?

 

[jefmcg]

Sounds a bit odd but it is grammatically correct for the singular form
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/themself

Being in the dictionary doesn't mean it is grammatically correct. Oxford dictionaries are descriptive not prescriptive.

And they do state "The form is not widely accepted in standard English,"

You got me on the thing/think error. Oops

 

[srw]

The word has a long an honourable literary history (https://books.google.com/ngrams/gra...,themself;,c0;,s0;;themself;,c0;;Themself;,c0)

 

[winjim]

Being in the dictionary doesn't mean it is grammatically correct. Oxford dictionaries are descriptive not prescriptive.

And they do state "The form is not widely accepted in standard English,"

You got me on the thing/think error. Oops

But there are no rules, only conventions. We are not French.

Correct term should anyway be hirself, surely?

 

[MontyVeda]

Facebook is talking about one person, so it used themself.
The library are informing all the people who may use a computer, so use themselves.

It's not rocking horse science.

 

[jefmcg]

"will the person who reserved the Oxford English Dictionary please make themselves known to the head librarian"

 

[MontyVeda]

"will the person who reserved the Oxford English Dictionary please make themselves known to the head librarian"

Maybe your librarians put too much faith in their spell checker?

And maybe they should take a name when someone reserves a book.