Is it weird to "respect" pronouns?

I dunno. I really don’t see why it’s so difficult to just refer to people however they wish to be referred to as.

I don’t either; that’s not my question though.

No it’s not weird.

@belisarius “It struck me as a weird, adversarial language construct.”

It seems more like a reaction to the number of people who are deliberately disrespectful of this kind of thing.

“When you use the word ‘my’ it is ownership.”

No, it’s not. “My” is a relational term with ownership being one type of relation that it can indicate.

“How do you respect a word?”

You are not being asked to respect a word. You are being asked to respect a preference regarding words.

“Maybe it is just late and I’m getting loopy.”

Assuming you aren’t being deliberately obtuse, then this is indeed the most charitable interpretation.

I like clear, direct language. It seems like an abstract, indirect way to say it. It also seems like a new direction to take the English language.

(I can work out what they are trying to say and I have no problem doing it)

What is your primary language?

What the person should have said was “You need to respect my pronoun choice.”

A pronoun is just a word. It is the pronoun choice that we need to respect – and follow.

One needs to be respectful of the gender of pronoun being used. If you call Caitlyn Jenner “he”, you are negating her existence and fulfillment and discounting her self identity.

(Also, in your example, “Katie” is not a pronoun, that is a nickname. A pronoun as a word is not specific to any person place or thing, but is merely a substitute.

@belisarius “I don’t either; that’s not my question though.”

Your “question”, as such, is vague and abstract.

I think you’re interpreting the phrase too literally. There are many things we say that are not meant to be taken literally. I agree with @SavoirFaire “Respect my pronouns” means “respect my preference of pronouns”.

It is fundamentally, scientifically wrong to try to force people to use pronouns that are not accurate. No matter how you surgically,use hormones their DNA is one or the other gender.

@Darth_Algar Okay. I give up. I obviously don’t get how this place/community works.

@belisarius “I like clear, direct language.”

“Respect my pronouns” is both clear and direct unless one is trying not to understand it.

“It seems like an abstract, indirect way to say it.”

It’s not abstract or indirect, it is brief. It is a shortened way of saying “please use the pronouns I have asked you to use” or “please respect my choice of which pronouns I would like you to use when referring to me.” Natural languages are full of shortcuts that any competent user of that language should be able to understand. Moreover, words can mean something together that is more than just the top level dictionary definition of each combined.

And you must understand this because “fine with,” “for example,” “okay, sorry,” “I guess,” and “make sense” are all shortcuts of this kind, yet each one appears in your original question. You assumed that we would all understand these phrases, and you were both correct and justified in that assumption. Similarly, it is justifiable (and typically correct) that one will be able to understand the phrase “respect my pronouns.”

“It also seems like a new direction to take the English language.”

But it’s not. It’s just another example of a phenomenon already found in all natural languages.

@si3tech “It is fundamentally, scientifically wrong to try to force people to use pronouns that are not accurate.”

Good thing no one is trying to do that, then.

“No matter how you surgically, use hormones their DNA is one or the other gender.”

Perhaps you mean “sex”? Because gender is a product of society rather than genetics—as is language, for that matter.

Think of how you would feel if someone kept referring to you or addressing you with other than your usual gender pronoun, or if that doesn’t bother you, referring to you as “it”.

e.g. Say you’re a hetero guy and I keep addressing you as “she” or “her”. Many fellows who try to ignore people with gender identification preferences, would (I expect) tend to not handle that so well. In fact, they sometimes do it intentionally and aggressively. I’ve received that as a straight guy who had longer hair than they felt comfortable with.

@stanleybmanly English; mild Asperger’s though, which is possibly why I’m trying to get language right and nobody else wants to.

@belisarius “which is possibly why I’m trying to get language right and nobody else wants to.”

You’re not trying to get language right. You’re trying to make everyone cater to your personal preferences regarding language.

I get the frustration. I am currently finishing my PhD in philosophy, a discipline that is often very concerned with the specifics of language. But one thing we have to understand when stepping into a conversational environment is that not everyone is going to use words the same way that we do, and that using words differently than we do isn’t always incorrect. We can make a case for using words in a particular way, but to merely insist upon it is folly.

Language is an ever evolving thing. It is not “wrong” or “right” so long as one can communicate clearly what they’re trying to convey. To insist that you are getting “right” but no one else does or wants to is simply being obtuse.

@belisarius I too am unreasonably annoyed by sloppy English. But the assumption that others deliberately screw it up is not reasonable. We are all confronted with the challenge of understanding and being understood. Like other talents, some of us are better at it than others. You must decide why you are here. If it’s a matter of some search for precision, I believe disappointment awaits you. Your namesake would certainly appreciate this.

Your right that the expression is grammatically awkward, but I think that might be of intentional. They are anthromorphizing their pronoun, which makes it more worthy of consideration, and at the same time a more succinct and memorable demand.