Thread: refer to the animals as "it"

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

I have a similar question. When does baby stop being "it"? How old does it have to be? And is calling a baby "she" or "he" a mistake?
I'm already used to babies being addressed as inanimate objects, but it's still a little weird.

That is a tricky one as some people know the sex of the baby before it is born and others don't. So, until you have been told, "it" is perfectly fine. You can also just say "baby." Once you know the sex, you should then start addressing it by... he, she, him, her, daughter, son, baby, OR the baby's name, any of those are perfectly fine.

BTW, I almost always refer to my husband as "hubby" as the backstory about his name is too complicated. So most of my friends just ask me, "How are hubby and the girls doing?"

It is interesting that you mention this "it" thing as when we were looking at high schools we attended several open houses. At one of them an Assistant Principal was speaking and retelling a story and could not recall the student's gender, so she referred to the student as an "it." I was shocked and appalled that an administrator who was trying to impress parents and students would say that! She also said "ummm" maybe 400 times. Needless to say, we quickly crossed that high school off our list.