Gender-neutral language in state laws

[Jonathan Lighter]

And of course, from "woman." And the "son" from "person."

I seem to have lived through this at least 37 years ago.

The price of paranoia is eternal vigilance.

JL

On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 6:20 PM, Hollis Barnhart <hbarnhart at highlands.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Hollis Barnhart <hbarnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Gender-neutral language in state laws
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I would have also removed the man from hu.
>
> Hollis Barnhart
>  On Feb 4, 2013 5:25 PM, "Benjamin Barrett" <gogaku at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> > Subject:      Gender-neutral language in state laws
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > According to the Seattle Times =
> > (http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020282616_genderneutralxml.html
> > ),=
> >  Washington is the third state to do a complete overhaul of its laws to =
> > effectuate gender neutrality.
> >
> > Among the interesting changes (see also =
> > http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020282625_gendersidexml.html):
> >
> > "his" -> "his or her" (perhaps this sequence was selected to match "he =
> > or she")
> > fisherman -> fisher
> > freshman -> first-year student
> > (railway) fireman -> fire tender
> > longshoreman -> longshore worker
> > man's cause -> person's cause
> > man's past -> humankind's past
> > ombudsman -> ombuds (despite it being a borrowing, "-man" appears to =
> > mean "man" in Swedish (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/man#Swedish) and =
> > has the appearance of gender bias in English)
> > penmanship -> handwriting
> > sportsmanship -> sporting/hunting behavior
> >
> > Excluded from change for concerns about confusion:
> > manhole
> > manlock
> >
> > Benjamin Barrett
> > Seattle, WA=
> >
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