Bartendresses

[Jonathan Lighter]

Yeah, "My name is X, and I'll be your waitstaff."  Sounds like some kind of walking stick for corpulent.  Have heard this for ten years at least, probably more.

I don't know which I find more offensive, this or "waitron."

JL


"Mullins, Bill" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Mullins, Bill"
Subject: Re: Bartendresses
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I've heard "waitstaff" as a catch-all unisex term for waiters,
waitresses, bartenders, etc.


> BARTENDRESSES
>
> From the "Ardent Spirits" newletter by Gary Regan:
>
>
> Barmaids, Bartendresses, and Bar Bitches
>
> Our friend, Claudia C. F. Craig caused some controversy when,
> as we reported in the last issue of Ardent Spirits, she wrote
> to say that she was in favor of calling females who work
> behind the stick "barmaids," as opposed to bartenders.
> Not one of our readers who wrote in to comment agreed with
> Claudia. Mind you, Claudia's used to that . . .
>
> First off we should explain the Bar Bitch term lest you're
> getting irate: Gary was tending bar at a charity function at
> Painter's Tavern in Cornwall-on-Hudson recently when he found
> himself in the weeds in a big way. He looked to Pete
> Buttiglieri, his buddy, and one of the owners of Painter's,
> for help, and Pete dutifully went to work, grabbing a tray
> full of clean glasses from the kitchen, and re-stocking the
> glass shelves. He rolled his eyes at Gary, and muttered,
> "Now that I'm officially your bar bitch . . . " So, we don't
> think that Bar Bitch is a suitable term to use when referring
> to a female bartender, but we do believe that it suits Peter to a T.
>
> Here's a look at what some of you wrote on the subject of barmaids:
>
> From Philip Duff, Holland:
>
> "I'd go for bartender to describe a, er, bartender of either
> gender. As well as being unisex, it also fits well with the
> profession of "tending bar", and is universally understood,
> something that can't be said for "barkeeper"(most Germanic
> countries). To me personally, having lived in the UK,
> "barman" or "barmaid" tends to be used to describe a fairly
> untrained pub-standard bar worker, whereas "bartender" always
> seemed to indicate a trained professional."
>
> Any bartenders in the U.K. care to comment?
>
> Nancy A. Breslow had pretty strong views on this subject,
> too. Here's what she had to say:
>
> "Gary and Mardee: The idea of a female bartender being
> called anything but a BARTENDER gives me the dry-heaves. If
> I tend bar, I do the same job whether I've got the inny or
> outy equipment between my legs. I don't care if some men
> pine for the "Fly me" days; that's their problem. Would
> Claudia want a woman flying the plane to be called a
> pilotess? Ugh. From "maid" it's only a step or two to
> "wench" and anyone calls me that is begging for a black eye. -Nancy-
>
> And speaking of wenches, Deven Black, an old friend, and
> former manager of the North Star Pub in Manhattan wrote,
> "Personally, I prefer serving wench." Don't get too upset at
> Deven, we know him well enough to tell you for sure that
> Deven had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he wrote that
> one. If he was even half-way serious we're also sure that
> Jill, his ever patient wife, would whip him soundly.
>
> A certain woman by the name of Brenda wrote to say that she
> didn't mind being called a bartender, a barmaid, or even
> "sweety hon," but she added that her customers seldom had to
> call her anything at all since she gets the drinks out before
> they have to ask. And finally, a reader who signed his
> e-mail "Jeffrey"
> suggested that we start using the word "bartendress" when
> referring to female bartenders.
>
> The vast majority of you, though, think that "bartender" is a
> good unisex term that should be employed when referring to
> bartenders of either sex. Sorry, Claudia.
>

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