Chaucer et al

[Wilson Gray]

In my experience, "blonde" has always referred to a woman with blond
hair, whereas "blond" has always referred to a man with blond hair.

-Wilson

On 11/6/06, James Smith <jsmithjamessmith at yahoo.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       James Smith <jsmithjamessmith at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Chaucer et al
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Is *blond* vs. *blonde* a difference in US vs. British
> usage?
>
>
> --- Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM> wrote:
>
> > Possibly of interest:
> >
> >   1875 _The Riverside Magazine_ (Apr.) 185: Oh yes,
> > I got a packet ship, / Her name's the _Henry Clay_.
> >
> >   It is sexist to deny "feminine" status to
> > submarines - especially the nuclear, MIRV-equipped
> > kind.
> >
> >   JL
> >
> > GLL <guy1656 at OPUSNET.COM> wrote:
> >   ---------------------- Information from the mail
> > header -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > Poster: GLL
> > Subject: Re: Chaucer et al
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > > Personally when I see 'they' as a singular my
> > evaluation
> > > > of the writer's maturity and subject competence
> > drops sharply.
> > :
> > : So much the worse for Chaucer, Shakespeare, et al.
> > But it's nice to
> > : have standards.
> > :
> > : >I also take 'points off' for writers who mix up
> > 'blond' and 'blonde.'
> >
> > ... but the use by Chaucer of -e and other gender
> > markers of his time earns
> > him the points back.
> >
> > Now - does anyone think it's odd to call a submarine
> > a 'she?'
> > I think that German makes an exception. There was
> > also an old saw that the KM
> > battlecruiser 'Bismarck' was referred to in the
> > masculine, but this did not
> > apply to [her] sister ship 'Tirpitz.'
> >
> > Comments?
> >
> > -GLL
> >
> >
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> James D. SMITH                 |If history teaches anything
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