Gender neutral language in English: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:35, 12 September 2024

Gender neutral language

Gender neutral language in English is easier than gender neutral language (also called gender inclusive language) in many other languages, because its grammatical gender is less pervasive than in, say, German or French. See the main article on

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 * '''Oldest/First-born.''' Neutral, a way of speaking of one's offspring by saying "my oldest" or "first-born", rather than saying "my daughter/son."<ref name="titles queeries" />
 * '''Progeny.''' Neutral, means offspring.
-* '''Second-born.''' Neutral, a way of speaking of one's offspring by saying "my second-born," rather than saying "my daughter/son." Also works for third-, fourth-, or fifth-born, etc. <ref name="titles queeries" />
+* '''Second-born.''' Neutral, a way of speaking of one's offspring by saying "my second-born," rather than saying "my daughter/son." Also works for middle-, third-, fourth-, fifth-born etc. <ref name="titles queeries" />
 * '''Scion.''' Neutral, means offspring.
 * '''Spawn.''' Neutral, means offspring.
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 * '''Youth.''' Neutral, poetic word for a young person, but usually implied to be male.
 * '''Young.''' Neutral, standard word for offspring, but not usually used for people ("my young.")
-* '''Youngest.''' Neutral, a way of speaking of one's offspring by saying "my youngest," rather than saying "my daughter/son."<ref name="titles queeries" />
+* '''Youngest/Last-born.''' Neutral, a way of speaking of one's offspring by saying "my youngest" or "last-born" rather than saying "my daughter/son."<ref name="titles queeries" />
 * '''Young one.''' Neutral, poetic. Alternatively: young'un.
 * '''Young person.''' Neutral, standard, formal.