Get ready for rise of 'neopronouns.' They can include 'fantasy characters' such as 'vamp/vampself,' 'prin/cess/princesself,' 'fae/faer/faeself.'

TheBlaze has reported frequently on the increasing use of alternate pronouns over recent years. Just in December, in fact, news hit that the admission application for a business school offered a whopping 27 alternate pronouns that prospective students could choose from — you know, inventions such as "ey," "xie," "hir," "vis," and "eirs" in case the apparently outdated "she" and "he" don't suffice.

Well, the New York Times calls such newly created terms "neopronouns" — and according to the paper, we ain't seen a thing yet.

Now what?

The Times on Thursday published a nearly 2,000-word article on the topic, revealing for starters that the phenomenon of using "they" and "them" to describe a single person is becoming normal.

But that's old hat. Turns out that neopronouns — created terms like "ze" and "zir" that gloss over gender — are expanding to include "noun-self" pronouns, which can refer to animals or "fantasy characters," the paper said.

Therefore, the Times reported, one's pronouns can be "bun/bunself" and "kitten/kittenself" — or even "vamp/vampself," "prin/cess/princesself," "fae/faer/faeself." The paper also said "common slang" ("Innit/Innits/Innitself") is fair game, too.

"Many neopronoun users are dead serious, and are also part of online communities that are quick to react swiftly to offenses," the paper explained. "They are deeply versed in the style and mores of contemporary identity politics conversations."

More from the Times:

A popular Twitch streamer who goes by AndiVMG recently apologized after jokingly tweeting that her pronouns were "bad/af," which led many neopronoun users to accuse her of transphobic invalidation of their identities.

AndiVMG did not respond to a request for comment for this article but wrote on Twitter: "It wasn't meant to mock people who use neopronouns. However I have since educated myself on the matter and spoken to people who use neopronouns and I see why what I said was hurtful."

How are folks reacting?

There's plenty more conjugating of the issue within the lengthy Times' treatise, but what seems more entertaining is how observers are reacting to the story.

TheBlaze's Dave Rubin cut right to the chase:

Conservative scholar and author Christian Sommers wondered, "Is this all real?"

Others expressed similar sentiments:

• "I shall now refer to myself as squi/squirlly/squirrelself," one commenter wrote.
• "OK this article made my head hurt," another user said. "I respect pronouns usage. But this just seems like people taking it to far. We are not little kids who are making up names."
• "Another sign America is circling the bowl like a violent bowel movement," another commenter opined.
• "What about inanimate object pronouns like 'Apache attack helicopter' or apatcopter?" another user quipped. "Discrimination at its finest if they don't [accept] my identity as apatcopter."
• "At what point are ya'll sick of sharing a country with folks pushing this kind of stuff?" another commenter wondered. "Their fantasyland lifestyles are slowly dragging our country towards economic ruin. Let them live however they want, in a country they want. Break off half the US & let's get back to truth."