Mia in Sumter, South Carolina, wonders: Is there a better term than adult child to describe one of your children who’s now a grownup? It’s hard to come up with a better, one-word expression for one’s adult offspring, and words such...
Emily from Madison, Wisconsin, has three nieces and a nephew, and wonders if there’s a gender-neutral term for the group of them, in the same way cousins can designate one or two genders. German has the single word Geschwisterkind, meaning...
The months of September, October, November, and December take their names from Latin words meaning “seven,” “eight,” “nine,” and “ten.” So why don’t their names correspond to where they fall in...
The words we choose can change attitudes — and change lives. A swing-dance instructor has switched to gender-neutral language when teaching couples. He says that using words like “leader” and “follower” actually works better...
A transgender and gender-nonconforming listener wonders if there’s a gender-neutral term for “aunt” or “uncle.” Some people have suggested pibling, meaning the “sibling of one’s parent.” Others have...
The term Latinx, pronounced Lah-TEEN-ex, gained traction in 2016 as a gender-neutral, non-binary alternative to Latino and/or Latina. A variant is Latin@. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Latinx” Another possible word...