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THEY - 2 reference results
They

They is a third-person, personal pronoun (subject case) in Modern English.

Usage

The "singular" they is the use of this pronoun, where they is used as a gender-neutral singular rather than plural pronoun. The correctness of this usage is disputed.

Etymology

They "The People"

Taken from "You know what "they" say..."

  • "They" refers to the masses of those who are among the pop culture. "They" quote sayings of individuals who could put complex events in to understandable context; believing that what "they" have just quoted would justify an event or action which had just occurred.
  • "They" may also refer to the government or society at large, such as when a paranoid conspiracy theorist proclaims "They're out to get me, man" or "They're watching me right now."

The logical position against this usage is based on the principle of methodological individualism - the obvious fact about the reality of humans that various actions such as "thinking", "saying", "feeling", "knowing", "believing" or any other physiological functions can only be done by individual humans.

See also

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Last updated on Monday September 22, 2008 at 06:37:25 PDT (GMT -0700)
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Community clean-up by young volunteers ; Stoke youngsters said they wanted a cleaner community - so they went out and tidied it up themselves.
Jul 03, 2009; Stoke youngsters said they wanted a cleaner community - so they went out and tidied it up themselves. Working with local police...
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Teens who think they'll die young live fast; A self-fulfilling prophecy? Teens who are less hopeful seem to engage in riskier behavior, a University of Minnesota study found. For example, they were seven times more likely to later be diagnosed with HIV or AIDS.(NEWS)
Jun 29, 2009; Byline: MAURA LERNER; STAFF WRITER They used to say that teenagers think they're immortal, and that's why they do such dangerous...
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Officials support smoking limits: ; Racetrack claims ban resulted in revenue loss; state lawmakers say they gave counties the choice
Jun 30, 2009; If officials of Tri-State Racetrack had any hopes for a legislative exemption from a countywide smoking ban, they may already be...
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Service personnel feel public 'give them a rough ride' ; Servicemen and women in the armed forces feel they get a "rough ride" from the public, which doesn't appreciate them.
Jul 03, 2009; Servicemen and women in the armed forces feel they get a "rough ride" from the public, which doesn't appreciate them. That's just...
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Study: Many teens think they'll die young
Jun 29, 2009; CHICAGO - A surprising number of teenagers - nearly 15 percent - think they're going to die young, leading many to drug use,...
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