There was only one problem with the very woke adoration of “Latinx.” Hispanics didn’t want it, and no matter how passionately white saviors insisted it was for their own good, and they were just not woke enough to appreciate its glory, they weren’t buying. But just because the “x” factor didn’t fly there doesn’t mean it’s dead and gone. Oh no. It’s found a new target.

Maddie Luebbert teaches 9th grade English in a Philadelphia public school and, according to a recent NBC News report, is much admired by the students. As in most public schools, the teachers use “Mr.” or “Ms.” (and sometimes, “Mrs.”) as their title when addressed by students. Luebbert, 25, prefers “Mx.” (pronounced “mix”), a gender-neutral alternative to the usual titles. Luebbert herself identifies as “nonbinary” — which is to say neither male nor female.

Say what? Mx.

This appears in USA Today, which makes it slightly more significant than if it was being introduced to the world here, where no one would care and plenty would laugh uproariously. There’s only one curiosity about its sudden emergence. Other than Mx. Maddie, who says it?

Most Americans haven’t come across this title yet, likely for two reasons. Other than teachers, doctors, professors and members of the clergy, we generally don’t use courtesy titles — or what are also known as honorifics — anymore. The second reason: It’s only in the past handful of years in this country that as more people who identify as gender nonconforming, nonbinary or transgender come out, Mx. has gained some currency as the gender-neutral cousin to Ms.

To be fair, there’s logic to the idea. First, create gender identities, and then create words to call them. Transgender isn’t new, of course, but then it’s not clear why they’ve been thrown into the mix. The complaint has long been that if someone wants to identify as male, then show him the courtesy of using male pronouns and honorifics. But what about people who want to identify as nothing, or fluid? Don’t they get their own title?

The comparison to Ms. has some surface appeal, but doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. It was born as a reaction to women, but not men, being identified by their marital status. It involved actual things, sex, marital status and a clear gap between how men and women were addressed. Still, it took a while to be accepted, and there was plenty of opposition.

But is Mx. the next Ms.? Maybe, but the seemingly constant effort to invent new words to accommodate every ache and pain of wokeness doesn’t make it real. But what if it’s put into a dictionary, even if no one outside of the handful of edgy people who love special new words for their special new selves cares?

But it’s time to add Mx. into the daily mix of titles we use. In considering the addition of Mx. to the OxfordDictionaries.com, published by the venerable Oxford English Dictionary, its assistant editor explained in the London Times, “This is an example of how the English language adapts to people’s needs, with people using language in ways that suit them rather than letting language dictate identity to them.”

If it’s in the dictionary, even if “most people” have never heard of it, used it, accepted it or recognize it, it must be real. And then there are the people who advocate for it.

“I use Mx. because it helps me avoid the unfair gender expectations that come with choosing Mr. or Ms. When people see ‘Mr. Tobia’ on a nametag, they’re expecting a masculine man to walk through the door; however, when the nametag says, “Mx. Tobia,” they have to put their expectations aside and simply respect me for who I am. Having a title that reflects my identity helps make the world more empathetic and easier to navigate.”

Does using “Mx.” avoid “unfair gender expectations”? You can always tell the woke from the unwoke on twitter because their bios include their personal pronouns, but are they otherwise honored, other than in the breach? Maybe, but I haven’t seen it.

If Mx. becomes a thing, it’s no skin off my nose, other than as another landmine to explode when someone is accused of mis-honoring someone by calling them Mr. or Ms. But why we’re learning about it from USA Today makes it all emit an unpleasant odor, as if this is another Latinx that’s only desired at the outer fringe.

If people want to be called Mx., perhaps the newspapers would do better to let it happen organically rather than tell us what new words “most” of us have never heard about, but edgy people invent for their own specialness that the clueless masses are too unwoke to know or care about. You know, like Ms. If it happens, great. If the word doesn’t catch on, that’s how language works. We don’t need new landmines for their own sake.