A new pronoun? What's a hu to do? Gender-neutral terms spur bruising debate

St. Paul Pioneer Press | 06/23/2007 | WILLIAM WEIR

[Charlespg]

The latest such pronoun comes from DeAnn DeLuna, who teaches literature at Johns Hopkins University. Her creation, "hu," would replace he, she, him, her and his. Because it's just one word, unlike an entire set of pronouns, DeLuna says it's easier to use than other gender-neutral pronouns. And the word (pronounced "huh"), trips off the tongue easily.

These people should be strongly encouraged to commit suicide

[SAJ]

Si, tio mio!

[Savage Beast]

Would we say, “Give it to hu” or “Give it to hum”? “You were with hu” or “You were with hum”?This could get very confusing.

[nicmarlo]

As distinguished from the mutually exclusive category of academic communication.

lol...that's true.

[Zeppo]

The latest such pronoun comes from DeAnn DeLuna, who teaches literature at Johns Hopkins University.

Someone should tell DeAnn DeLuna that she is missing her true calling in life. Why is she wasting time by trifling with a few pesky English pronouns? Someone should introduce DeLuna to the treasure trove hidden in plain sight within the French language - there's a dictionary full of gendered nouns just begging for the application of her impressive neutering skills.

[Rumplemeyer]

They have way too much free time on their hands, this would change if they were employed.

[ModelBreaker]

Or, we could just sit around sipping espresso and speaking Esperanto.

[School of Rational Thought]

Hu?

[GAB-1955]

A better universal pronoun is “one” for gender-neutral situations, even if it sounds formal. One can get much done with it.

[Czar]

Perhaps we should ask DeAnn to ping us when someone who actually gives a damn is discovered.

[goldstategop]

Its just stupid. Liberals are worried over gender exclusion when the world faces more serious problems. They love to play word games at a time when women's rights are threatened by far more than the presence of masculine grammar rules in the English language.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[Constitution Day]

[cue Roger Daltrey and the fellas:
“Hu are you? Hu, hu? Hu, hu?”

Hu's on first?

[azhenfud]

“Ne,” “hizer,” “thon,” “shem” and “herm” are just a few that came along and faded quickly.

---

Must’ve been rejects from Disney’s Dwarf closet.

[CougarGA7]

Hu(h)?

[Tijeras_Slim]

Kelly Hu - defying gender neutrality!

[Constitution Day]

Very nice!

[CougarGA7]

Hu Dat!!

There is also the Egyptian god Hu. Ironically, he was the god of the spoken word.

[Aquinasfan]

Folks in the transgender community have long charged that "he" or "she" forces them into categories they don't necessarily identify with.

What's wrong with "it"?

[dighton]

Suit Alleges Anti-Asian Huters Bias

[Centurion2000]

Someone's already done this. Here's a perfectly good table for non-gendered pronouns.

Gender	non- gender- specific pronoun	non- gender- specific personal pronoun	male	female	hemoth (hermoph- rodite)	neut (asexual - person neuter) e.g. neuter bioids, many AIs & aioids	object (impersonal neuter)	plural (generic)
singular (Subject)	e / ey	per	he	she	se	je	it	they
singular (Object)	em	per	him	her	hir	jer	it	them
possessive adjective	eir	pers	his	hers	hir	jers	its	their
possessive pronoun	eirs	pers	his	hers	hirs	jers	its	theirs
Reflexive	emself or eirself	perself	himself	herself	hirself	jerself	itself	themself or theirself

Now ... why did they do it? Any person that is eventually uploaded or sentient robot/AI will not have a gender.

Orion's Arm Linguistics