I'm reminded of the Japanese proverb:

"The tallest nail gets the hammer"

"What DO THEY want to eat for dinner?" is correct and does not sound "retarded".

"Did you ask THEM do they dance?" Is correct and again, not "retarded".

"I was so mad during that argument I could slap THEM" .... still not "retarded".

If someone asked you to call them by their chosen nickname rather than their given name, you would because it's the polite, courteous thing to do.

Using the pronouns a person prefers whether it be he/him/his, she/her/hers or they/them/their is no different. It's just being polite and courteous.

As the world changes, so does the language which is a good thing. Otherwise we'd still be talking like Shakespeare.

Your example uses a possessive pronoun, specifically a possessive determiner, which has different usage than simple pronouns.

If there is only one George in the context of the statement then "George rode George's bicycle" is grammatically correct, albeit a little clumsy. Of course, "George rode his bicycle" is better and the common form or "George rode their bicycle" if George's pronouns are they/them.

My point was that pronouns like he/she/they do not have to be used if you don't want to. "George said George rode George's bicycle a lot when George was a child" is grammatically correct but it is normal to use pronouns to simplify it.

In the example "they" refers to the subject "anyone" which is a known quantity of 1 (i.e. singular), so in the example "they" is singular.

FYI, I teach English for a living and that is the accepted usage. For reference, Practical English Usage by Michael Swan, 4th Ed, page 264, section 175, "They/them/their is often used to refer to a singular indefinite person. This is common after a person, anybody/one, somebody/one, nobody/one, whoever, each, every, either and no."

You can disagree with me but Practical English Usage is considered one of the definitive English grammar references by most English teachers.

"They" can also be used as singular. According to the Oxford dictionary: "used instead of he or she to refer to a person whose sex is not mentioned or not known"

Eg. If anyone [singular] arrives late they [singular] will have to wait outside.

The use of "they" for a non-binary person falls within the singular usage of "they".

Pronouns are just a way to avoid repeating the name of the noun so if you are still uncomfortable using "they" to refer to a person than you can just use their name instead.

You're just being an ash.

If anyone knows better, I'd be happy to be corrected but as I see it the correct forms are the OP's

and

and also

The two "corrections" are incorrect:

and

Obligatory Slashdot car metaphor in 3...2...1:

We should update the UI in our cars. That steering wheel is soooo 1903.

FTFY

According to the Oxford dictionary using "fail" informally to mean "a mistake or lack of success in doing something" is an acceptable use.

So, your correction would be an epic fail.

A rare expression but nothing odd about it. With respect to definition it was correctly used and appropriate for the context.

Rather than showing English is not their native language, it shows a better than average command of the language.

He's a Canadian not a sailor.

It's, "He's sorry, eh"

The love child of a Ferengi and a Pakled might be closer.

The U.S. government has had to step in many times to break up monopolies. If all monopolies are created by governments then why would they break them up?

Maybe you can explain how the U.S. created the Bell System (aka Ma Bell) and Standard Oil monopolies and then why they would dismantle what they created.

Better yet, if they could find something that made him look like a liberal, that would be the surest way to drive away his supporters.