Generate the answer for a given question. The question requires common knowledge of English. Make sure that the answer is in detail, long, consistent with the context, and requires general knowledge of English. To be less repetitive, please vary your language for each question. Give a proper explanation to answer, and if necessary, provide the definition of various terms. And conclude your answer if it's long. If you have used other resources (e.g., Merriam Webster's.) to answer the question, include citations in your answer. You don't need to paraphrase the context of your resources, but make sure that your answer is consistent and complete.

[Q]: I recently had somebody tell me that a mutual friend of ours who is genderqueer prefers that people refer to him/her using the gender-indefinite pronoun they. In some cases, this almost seems okay: Kris left their umbrella at our house. On the other hand, if Kris is sitting right next to you, it feels very odd to say They (meaning just Kris) would like more cake. Or even odder, Kris would like some more cake, can you please pass it to they/them?' Are these usages grammatically correct? Are they in the process of becoming grammatically correct? Are there more correct alternatives?.
[A]: I think the reason for your friend's preference is that using either the male or female pronouns implicitly pigeon-holes the person in question as either one or the other. However, all of the examples you give seem to me to be forced, and to shout out loud 'Hey, look at how sensitive I'm being! I'm not calling Kris either male or female!' There are sensible alternatives to all of these examples that do not break any grammatical rules. 'Kris left their umbrella at our house' : Kris left an umbrella at our house (yes, it could technically then be somebody else's umbrella that was left behind, but would you really know?) 'They [Kris] would like more cake.' : Kris would like some more cake. 'Kris would like some more cake, can you please pass it to they?' : Could you please pass the cake? Kris would like some more. While my dictionary (Chambers 1990) does have a secondary definition of 'they' as 'he or she', it also says that this usage is 'with pl. verb', as in 'there are lots of people; they are happy'. 'They is' would not be correct.


[Q]: How to describe a person in a word who keeps mentioning about his own life story or about himself for every topic that is being conversed? Be it interesting or boring, he has the ability to pick out something that has happened to him or he himself creates a chance to talk about himself. Edit: The person is not selfish. He does care for others. I am just saying that the person relates everything to his life and talks about it, that too not even in a conceited way. This person is experienced enough to relate everything to things that has happened to him.
[A]: Self-Absorbed This is similar to self-centered, but perhaps has less of a negative connotation. A person who talks about themselves a lot may simply be introverted, and socially awkward, and therefore not have a lot else to talk about. They may also try to give themselves a sense of social relevance, not realising that it is actually counter-productive.


[Q]: Consider this quote from Mark Twain: 'Familiarity breeds contempt - and children.' Does it mean having children is a bad thing? Could you explain what the children imply here?.
[A]:
Two thoughts are run together: Familiarity breeds contempt {knowing people very well lets you see their faults} Familiarity breeds children {physical familiarity between the sexes leads to children} Hence Familiarity breeds contempt and children. A similar example of this particular way of playing with words (called Zeugma) is: 'You are free to execute your laws, and your citizens, as you see fit.'


