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'They' was just named 2015's Word of the Year
Mark Abadi
gender neutral bathroom
gender neutral bathroom

(REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)
A gender-neutral bathroom is seen at the University of California, Irvine in Irvine, California, September 30, 2014.

In a year that saw “manbun,” “dadbod,” and “trigger warning” creep into our daily vocabularies, it was a simple pronoun that was deemed the most notable word of them all.

"They" has been named 2015’s Word of the Year.

More than 300 linguists, lexicographers and grammarians voted on the award Friday at the American Dialect Society's annual conference, held this year in Washington, D.C.

The word "they" was selected for the considerable traction it gained in 2015 as a singular, gender-neutral pronoun.

English speakers have used "they" and "their" for centuries to refer to someone of unknown gender, like in the sentence "Everyone does their best."

However, more recently, the usage of the pronoun has expanded to include people who choose to identify outside the traditional gender binary.

"There has been a lot of discussion lately about pronouns and people taking on their own pronouns, making that a matter of choice," said Ben Zimmer, chair of the American Dialect Society's new words committee, in an interview with Business Insider.

"That’s an interesting development that singular 'they' is in the middle of."

"It does say something about the way people are exploring gender and sexual identity, and perhaps a greater openness to accepting new ways of expressing that identity through language."

Zimmer pointed to various news outlets that have broadened their linguistic standards in recent months. In November, The New York Times used the honorific "Mx." as an alternative to "Mr." or "Ms." when a subject "preferred not to be assigned a gender."

And a week later, The Washington Post added "they" to their style guide to accommodate "people who identify as neither male nor female."

ben zimmer
ben zimmer

(BenZimmer.com)
Ben Zimmer

For Zimmer, these changes epitomize the evolution of language.

"It moves beyond the traditional binary of 'he' and 'she'," Zimmer told Business Insider.

"It feels like an opening up of the language, allowing for a greater possibility of what these pronouns can refer to."

In another Word of the Year category, "manbun" — defined as a man's hairstyle pulled up in a bun — won Most Unnecessary.

Meanwhile, the honor of Most Euphemistic went to "Netflix and chill" — "the sexual come-on masked as a suggestion to watch Netflix and relax."

"Schlong," a word that has a dubious history as a verb and was invoked by Donald Trump at a December campaign rally, lost to "f---boi" in a runoff for Most Shocking.

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