Mock Pronouns

Abstract This article describes mock pronouns as a predominantly digital discursive practice. The rise of gender-inclusive pronoun sharing has been accompanied by antifeminist, queerphobic and transphobic sentiment in line with current anti-emancipatory backlash in public spheres. Based on data from the social media platforms Twitter and TikTok, this article investigates mock pronouns as a specific digital corollary of such antipronominal discourse, harnessing linguistic strategies of pronoun sharing. This analysis focuses on the linguistic and semiotic strategies involved in the display of mock pronouns, including the semantics of the items chosen as well as their metadiscursive framing. The label of mock discourse connects mock pronouns to other forms of linguistic marginalization and derision such as Mock Spanish. Tapping into the semiotic resource that gender-inclusive pronoun sharing has become, the practice of mock pronouns enables users to engage in reactionary discourse that oscillates between openly hostile and seemingly benevolent or playful stances.