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Surge Summary: The newest linguistic movement to replace “Mr.” and “Mrs.” with “Mx.” confirms: either people have too much time on their hands or their priorities are out of whack.
by Steve Pauwels
There are crowding, existential problems that jostle for humanity’s attention: What will I eat today? How will I stay warm? What to do about a deadly physical affliction? Then there are those of the “first-world” variety: Not enough space in your refrigerator would be an example of the latter. Griping about long lines at Disney World? Ditto. Insufficient selections on Netflix or a sub-par Monday Night Football offering? Also, definitely not life-and-death crises.
A glaring example of those “first-world” dilemmas drifted into my email box recently: “What is the Gender Neutral Form of Mr. and Mrs.?”, queried a column passed along courtesy of Dictionary.com. That particular website offers a helpful daily service in its “Word of the Day” feature, free for the signing up. This logophiles’ paradise — unsurprising, considering the ideological proclivities of most English majors — also tilts decidedly “woke”. Nearly 700 words devoted toward this quest for a replacement for the conventional Mr./Mrs. sobriquets only confirms this conclusion.
“The most commonly used gender-neutral honorific is Mx., pronounced [ miks ] or [ muhks ],” informs the platform.
The first recorded use of Mx. was in 1977, where it was suggested as a less-sexist alternative to the traditional Mr., Mrs., and Miss. … Although it was coined in the 1970s, it didn’t gain traction until the 2000s [ya don’t say!] as there came to be greater mainstream acceptance of nonbinary or gender-nonconforming people.
(Apparently, I missed the light-bulb-on moment when, sometime roughly twenty years ago, this utterly superfluous step in societal evolution suddenly ignited to spirited shouts of “Mx., Mx., Mx.!”)
As observed above, Miss, Mr., Mrs. — even Ms. — reportedly no longer cut it on the conversational front. Like the similarly misbegotten effort to swap out the garbled ethnic identifier “Latinx” for the perfectly serviceable “Latino” or “Latina”, we’re all supposed to snap to and make the semantic transition to “Mx.” because someone, somewhere, decided it’s time for change. Really?
Moreover, the Dictionary.com piece continues,
While Mx. is the most common gender-neutral title, it isn’t the only one. Another alternative for nonbinary or gender-noncomforming people is Misc., short for miscellaneous, from the Latin for “mixed.”
Precisely how one is supposed to address another person as “Misc.” is left undemonstrated — probably because it’s functionally, goofily unworkable:
“Pardon me, Misc. Jones, could you hold that elevator door for me?”
“Hey, Misc. Thomas, if anyone calls for me I’m away from the office for the next hour.”
The rhetorical twaddle continues. “Another option is Ind., short for individual,”
I recall comedian Brian Regan including a side-splitting bit in his stand-up routine a few years back in which he awkwardly refers to a person of uncertain sex as “human” or “individual”. Once more, so there’s no confusion: Mr. Regan was aiming at laughs; that was the point. Little did the funny guy know that, not that far down the road, some pearl-twisting fussbudget would proffer this suggestion with straight face; as an actual method for speaking to other people.
“Mx. is a riff on the classic gendered titles Mr. and Ms,” lectures this article.
It keeps the M and swaps the gendered element of these terms for the gender-neutral X. The letter X has historically been used as a symbol for the unknown or indescribable. In this way, it is perfect for a gender-neutral honorific. Mx. shows respect while leaving the gender unknown or unarticulated.
Couple things: First, giving cover for reality-deniers is not automatically equal to respect. It is, in fact, crippling condescension, patronizing pap. It facilitates a metastasizing cultural delusion that hoodwinks men and women — and broadening sectors of civilization — into pretending “gender” is a status we can slip off and on like a seasonal outfit. Mind you, most of these are workaday people who’d otherwise prefer “male” and “female” remain legitimate, immutable categories.
Next, while “Mx.” may be “perfect for” something, it ain’t as a “gender-neutral honorific”. Rather, it’s appropriate for a civilization that has lost it’s perspective, its common sense … it’s mind.
And, finally, when you walk up to a guy or gal and call him/her “Mx.”? Don’t blame them if they assume you’re having a seizure and phone 911; or choking and attempt the Heimlich Maneuver on you.
For those who still haven’t gotten enough of this jabberwocky, we’re apprised that,
Other examples of words that use the letter X as an indication of gender-nonconformity that you may have come across are folx and womxn.
Oh, yeah. Personal faves of mine. Stumble across them everyday.
This piece closes on this daffily chipper note:
[W]hether you are nonbinary, gender nonconforming, or simply just not interested in being called a gendered title, if Mx. or any of these alternatives don’t feel fitting to you, you can always coin your own!
No doubt, Peter Quill would be down with that last choice. You remember him, right? In the first Guardians of the Galaxy flick he repeatedly tried to market himself as “Starlord” — a move, you’ll recall, that didn’t go especially well for him. (Although it’s possible it was better received than “Mx. Quill” would have been.) Of course, that “lord” part is patently gendered. (“Starlord”? “Starlady”? “Starlx”?) And it does sound awfully religious, so we can add that potential minefield in this secularist age of ours.
So, a plethora of prickly issues are clamoring for the nation’s attention: economic and fiscal pandemonium, moral collapse, sexual perversion, gender befuddlement, a crime explosion, educational implosion, international conflicts, a border crisis and a generation of laggards so ill-disciplined they couldn’t stock our military if needed … and this bunch’s cri de coeur is “It’s time to replace Mr. and Mrs.!”?
Serendipitously, this week spotlights “International Pronouns Day” (third Wednesday in October, if you’re curious). It’s a time to celebrate creative alternatives to how people have spoken English – or other languages that acknowledge biological sex — for centuries. We’re all familiar, needless to say, with “he”, “she”, ‘him”, “her”. Presently, the egregious “they” regularly shoulders aside these familiar designations so as not to exclude “non-binary” types who may, for instance, possess a penis and XY chromosomes but don’t want to be tagged as “male” (“he/him”). Yet … not good enough for the gender-anarchists! Modern society is now scolded they must indulge such preposterosities as “ve”, “ver” “xe”, “xem”, “ze/zie”, “hir” … and lots more.
Good grief. I’m tempted to say these characters have way too much time on their hands — except I’m not sure that’s the adequate explanation. A more plausible diagnosis could be a case of lethally disordered priorities. These are frivolous people; unserious ones. Others’ lives may be falling apart on all kinds of levels, but the gender-confused are twisting arms to mainstream use of nonsense words like “Latinx”, “Mx.”, ”ze/zie”, and the like. This only means, if unchecked, in the days ahead it’ll become even weirder for sensible folkx – err, folks – to meet and fruitfully discuss with one another these matters of foundational human significance.
[Updated: 10-20-22; 9:35 AM)
The views here are those of the author and not necessarily Daily Surge..
Image Adapted from: GMTechtronics from Pixabay
Don’t let Leftist social media shut us out! Sign up for Daily Surge’s daily email blast… it’ll keep you updated on each day’s Daily Surge columns. Go to dailysurge.com and sign up under “Free Newsletter” on the right side of the page, one-third of the way down. It’s easy! And like it says, it’s free!
Surge Summary: The newest linguistic movement to replace “Mr.” and “Mrs.” with “Mx.” confirms: either people have too much time on their hands or their priorities are out of whack.by Steve Pauwels
There are crowding, existential problems that jostle for humanity’s attention: What will I eat today? How will I stay warm? What to do about a deadly physical affliction? Then there are those of the “first-world” variety: Not enough space in your refrigerator would be an example of the latter. Griping about long lines at Disney World? Ditto. Insufficient selections on Netflix or a sub-par Monday Night Football offering? Also, definitely not life-and-death crises.
A glaring example of those “first-world” dilemmas drifted into my email box recently: “What is the Gender Neutral Form of Mr. and Mrs.?”, queried a column passed along courtesy of Dictionary.com. That particular website offers a helpful daily service in its “Word of the Day” feature, free for the signing up. This logophiles’ paradise — unsurprising, considering the ideological proclivities of most English majors — also tilts decidedly “woke”. Nearly 700 words devoted toward this quest for a replacement for the conventional Mr./Mrs. sobriquets only confirms this conclusion.
“The most commonly used gender-neutral honorific is Mx., pronounced [ miks ] or [ muhks ],” informs the platform.
(Apparently, I missed the light-bulb-on moment when, sometime roughly twenty years ago, this utterly superfluous step in societal evolution suddenly ignited to spirited shouts of “Mx., Mx., Mx.!”)
As observed above, Miss, Mr., Mrs. — even Ms. — reportedly no longer cut it on the conversational front. Like the similarly misbegotten effort to swap out the garbled ethnic identifier “Latinx” for the perfectly serviceable “Latino” or “Latina”, we’re all supposed to snap to and make the semantic transition to “Mx.” because someone, somewhere, decided it’s time for change. Really?
Moreover, the Dictionary.com piece continues,
Precisely how one is supposed to address another person as “Misc.” is left undemonstrated — probably because it’s functionally, goofily unworkable:“Pardon me, Misc. Jones, could you hold that elevator door for me?”
“Hey, Misc. Thomas, if anyone calls for me I’m away from the office for the next hour.”
The rhetorical twaddle continues. “Another option is Ind., short for individual,”
I recall comedian Brian Regan including a side-splitting bit in his stand-up routine a few years back in which he awkwardly refers to a person of uncertain sex as “human” or “individual”. Once more, so there’s no confusion: Mr. Regan was aiming at laughs; that was the point. Little did the funny guy know that, not that far down the road, some pearl-twisting fussbudget would proffer this suggestion with straight face; as an actual method for speaking to other people.
“Mx. is a riff on the classic gendered titles Mr. and Ms,” lectures this article.Couple things: First, giving cover for reality-deniers is not automatically equal to respect. It is, in fact, crippling condescension, patronizing pap. It facilitates a metastasizing cultural delusion that hoodwinks men and women — and broadening sectors of civilization — into pretending “gender” is a status we can slip off and on like a seasonal outfit. Mind you, most of these are workaday people who’d otherwise prefer “male” and “female” remain legitimate, immutable categories.
Next, while “Mx.” may be “perfect for” something, it ain’t as a “gender-neutral honorific”. Rather, it’s appropriate for a civilization that has lost it’s perspective, its common sense … it’s mind.
And, finally, when you walk up to a guy or gal and call him/her “Mx.”? Don’t blame them if they assume you’re having a seizure and phone 911; or choking and attempt the Heimlich Maneuver on you.
For those who still haven’t gotten enough of this jabberwocky, we’re apprised that,Oh, yeah. Personal faves of mine. Stumble across them everyday.
This piece closes on this daffily chipper note:
No doubt, Peter Quill would be down with that last choice. You remember him, right? In the first Guardians of the Galaxy flick he repeatedly tried to market himself as “Starlord” — a move, you’ll recall, that didn’t go especially well for him. (Although it’s possible it was better received than “Mx. Quill” would have been.) Of course, that “lord” part is patently gendered. (“Starlord”? “Starlady”? “Starlx”?) And it does sound awfully religious, so we can add that potential minefield in this secularist age of ours.So, a plethora of prickly issues are clamoring for the nation’s attention: economic and fiscal pandemonium, moral collapse, sexual perversion, gender befuddlement, a crime explosion, educational implosion, international conflicts, a border crisis and a generation of laggards so ill-disciplined they couldn’t stock our military if needed … and this bunch’s cri de coeur is “It’s time to replace Mr. and Mrs.!”?
Serendipitously, this week spotlights “International Pronouns Day” (third Wednesday in October, if you’re curious). It’s a time to celebrate creative alternatives to how people have spoken English – or other languages that acknowledge biological sex — for centuries. We’re all familiar, needless to say, with “he”, “she”, ‘him”, “her”. Presently, the egregious “they” regularly shoulders aside these familiar designations so as not to exclude “non-binary” types who may, for instance, possess a penis and XY chromosomes but don’t want to be tagged as “male” (“he/him”). Yet … not good enough for the gender-anarchists! Modern society is now scolded they must indulge such preposterosities as “ve”, “ver” “xe”, “xem”, “ze/zie”, “hir” … and lots more.
Good grief. I’m tempted to say these characters have way too much time on their hands — except I’m not sure that’s the adequate explanation. A more plausible diagnosis could be a case of lethally disordered priorities. These are frivolous people; unserious ones. Others’ lives may be falling apart on all kinds of levels, but the gender-confused are twisting arms to mainstream use of nonsense words like “Latinx”, “Mx.”, ”ze/zie”, and the like. This only means, if unchecked, in the days ahead it’ll become even weirder for sensible folkx – err, folks – to meet and fruitfully discuss with one another these matters of foundational human significance.
[Updated: 10-20-22; 9:35 AM)
The views here are those of the author and not necessarily Daily Surge..
Image Adapted from: GMTechtronics from Pixabay
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Steve Pauwels
Steve Pauwels is pastor of Church of the King, Londonderry, NH, Managing Editor over at dailysurge.com and host of Striker Radio with Steve Pauwels on the Red State Talk Radio Network. He's also husband to the lovely Maureen and proud father of three fine sons: Mike, Sam and Jake.