Gun from afar

In relationships, 'you' might feel slighted when your partner uses 'it' to describe your shared problems, like when they say 'it' refers to your financial issues without involving you in the solution

On social media, people use 'they' as a gender-neutral pronoun, but sometimes it can feel performative, like someone is flexing their progressive identity without actually living it in their daily life

At work, when a boss says 'this' to describe a challenge, it can come off as dismissive, especially if the team feels like 'this' is their problem to solve without input from higher-ups

In family settings, using 'that' when pointing out someone's behavior can be a quiet way to criticize, like when a parent says 'that' to mean their child is being too loud without directly calling them out

In generational terms, younger people might use 'this' to describe a new trend, while older folks see it as 'that,' like when Gen Z calls something 'lit' and boomers see it as 'that' hype from the kids