Re: man+(noun) combin ing form

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 10/2/05 10:58:56 PM, JJJRLandau at AOL.COM writes:


> 
> My recollection is that in Louisville, Kentucky, in the 1950's and 1960's,
> the term "colored man" did NOT mean "an African-American male" but rather 
> had
> the more specific meaning "an African-American male employed in a white
> household" or even more specifically "an African-American male employed in 
> a  white
> household as a semi-skilled artisan, such as a handyman or  gardener."
> Similarly "colored woman" had the specific meaning "an  African-American 
> cleaning
> woman".   However (NAACP please note)  "colored people" did indeed mean
> "African-Americans in general".
> 

Couldn't a distinction made on the basis of stress? i.e., 

colored MAN = African-American servant
COLORED man = African-American male

That would seem intuitively right to me.