Stephen Colbert - Guest Columbia University linguistics professor and bestselling author John McWhorter

[Rhiannon12866]

It's Not Fair That "Y'all" Is Considered Slang - John McWhorter

Columbia University linguistics professor and bestselling author John McWhorter discusses some of the quirks of the English language and explains why one of Stephen's favorite Southern words will always be considered slang. McWhorter's book "Pronoun Trouble" is available now.

[TommyT139]

1. His suggestion to clarify the singular "they"

...is to capitalize it when written. It's a good idea, I think -- we're used to captalizing "I," and there's history of capitalizing other pronouns in English. Here's his recent essay in the NYT:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/27/opinion/pronouns-they-language-capital.html

https://archive.ph/a6Jjf

[Rhiannon12866]

2. I agree - and thanks so much!

[TommyT139]

3. You're welcome!

He has a few other columns on adjacent topics, some below this essay. In the archived page, you can right-click/long-press to open up that link in another tab, archived already (if it's in their system). Master key to the rabbit hole!

On most topics I find him a bit too conservative, but he's got a good workaround here. And as a conservative, he's well-placed to help move acceptance of nonbinary pronouns forward -- the ones he likes, anyway!

[littlemissmartypants]

4. He is really interesting! Thanks for sharing this, Rhi! ❤️

[Rhiannon12866]

5. Thanks! And I agree, I've seen him before and he's very interesting, smart and has a sense of humor...

[littlemissmartypants]

6. You're welcome! ❤️

[rampartd]

7. he is as funny as many comedians