Heard on The Judges: "bartend(e)ress"

[Bill Palmer]

the contrastive "but" implies that the -ess morpheme IS needed in "actress',
which contradicts the "(unfortunately)"

what about "host/hostess"; "headmaster/headmistress" , which come to mind
immediately, and, no doubt, many others which do not.

Bill Palmer

----- Original Message -----
From: <ronbutters at AOL.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2009 12:15 PM
Subject: Re: Heard on The Judges: "bartend(e)ress"


> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ronbutters at AOL.COM
> Subject:      Re: Heard on The Judges: "bartend(e)ress"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I agree with Larry that "barmaid" and "bartender" have different meanings.
> But why not just "bartender"? The -ess morpheme is still (unfortunately)
> conventional in "actress" but not needed elsewhere.
> ------Original Message------
> From: Wilson Gray
> Sender: ADS-L
> To: ADS-L
> ReplyTo: ADS-L
> Subject: [ADS-L] Heard on The Judges: "bartend(e)ress"
> Sent: Jan 25, 2009 12:41 AM
>
> Spoken by Judge Joe Brown:
>
> "Oh. She was the_bartend(e)ress_ at a bikini bar."
>
>
> There are a lot of us more-mature men who are unable to get ready for
> the replacement of "barmaid" by "bartender" and who are, therefore,
> unconsciously forced to try to do something about it.
>
> -Wilson
> ---
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -----
> -Mark Twain
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


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