# Winter wolf bad skill description

**URL:** <https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/winter-wolf-bad-skill-description/13110>\
**Category:** Support\
**Created:** [September 29, 2016, 10:32pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/winter-wolf-bad-skill-description/13110 "2016-09-29T22:32:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![vidokas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vidokas](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/vidokas)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 10:32pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/winter-wolf-bad-skill-description/13110/1 "2016-09-29T22:32:30Z")

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Hi.

"Freeze and place a Hunter’s Mark on the first enemy. deal 10 damage to **them**.  
He hits only first enemy not few, so word “them” is wrong here

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**Author:** ![Kurokazna](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/kurokazna/32/11246_2.png) [@Kurokazna](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Kurokazna)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/winter-wolf-bad-skill-description/13110/2 "2016-09-29T22:38:33Z")

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“Them” does not always mean plural.

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**Author:** ![Mekkalyn](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/mekkalyn/32/21868_2.png) [@Mekkalyn](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Mekkalyn)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 6:07am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/winter-wolf-bad-skill-description/13110/3 "2016-09-30T06:07:20Z")

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When the gender is unknown people can replace a pronoun for they/them.

It does seem a bit misleading and could be reworded better to suit this game (such as “deal x damage, Freeze and place a Hunter’s Mark on the first enemy”) but writers have been using “them” when a gender isn’t specified rather than “he or she”.

In this card the text should technically say “deal damage to him or her” but in order to make it sound less clunky they chop out the ending and replace it with “them”.

Usually, and what’s taught in school, is that they/them is plural. But writers have been using it as singular for a long time even without the technical permission of grammar books.

At least that’s my understanding of it, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong (since I’m not an English major).

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**Author:** ![Spherix](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/spherix/32/2388_2.png) [@Spherix](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Spherix)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 11:06am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/winter-wolf-bad-skill-description/13110/4 "2016-09-30T11:06:24Z")

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I believe “them” is also correct when it’s unknown whether the referent is singular or plural. Several troops are composed of more than one creature, and I believe there’s some regional variation as to whether groups are considered singular or plural. For example, the spiders in the Spider Swarm may be referred to as multiple spiders, or as a singular group of spiders.

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**Author:** ![Amadan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/amadan/32/7653_2.png) [@Amadan](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Amadan)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 11:26am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/winter-wolf-bad-skill-description/13110/5 "2016-09-30T11:26:03Z")

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“Them” has been in common use as a gender-neutral pronoun for a single person for hundreds of years; “him or her” is a monstrosity that sets my teeth on edge. The spell description seems perfectly clear to me.

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**Author:** ![Kharybdys](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/kharybdys/32/2023_2.png) [@Kharybdys](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Kharybdys)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 11:36am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/winter-wolf-bad-skill-description/13110/6 "2016-09-30T11:36:03Z")

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I get lots of compliments about my English but it’s not my native language and this is the first I hear about “them” being a perfectly acceptable pronoun for a single entity.  
“His or her” might be a monstrosity but it’s one that probably lands better with everyone where English isn’t the native language.

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**Author:** ![Amadan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/amadan/32/7653_2.png) [@Amadan](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Amadan)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 11:44am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/winter-wolf-bad-skill-description/13110/7 "2016-09-30T11:44:25Z")

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You can read a ton more about it [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they) if you’re interested in the usage history (and there’s somewhat more lighthearted information [here](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/08/donald-trump-may-win-this-years-word-of-the-year/)).

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**Author:** ![vidokas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vidokas](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/vidokas)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/winter-wolf-bad-skill-description/13110/8 "2016-09-30T13:48:18Z")

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oh. sorry my bad  
English is my. emm. fourth language 😃
