"chairman" gets neutered

[Dan Goncharoff]

Doesn't this confuse the function of "chair" with the title of "chairman"?

The chairman normally chairs the meeting. If someone else chairs the
meeting, they have the chair. They are the Chair. They are even
addressed directly as Mr. Chairman for the purpose of the meeting.
Someone who temporarily becomes Chair at a board meeting, however, is
not said to become Chairman of the Board. They occupy the Chair, they
even assume the dignity of the chair temporarily, but they don't
assume the title of chairman.

DanG



On Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 9:17 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "chairman" gets neutered
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 8/6/2011 06:46 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>Today we went to a local production of _The Fantasticks_. The Chairman of
>>the Board of the theater group (in her late '30s, I'd guess) ...
>>
>>Note too, as a curiosity, that she described herself as "Chairman" rather
>>than "Chairperson."
>
> One could inform her that "chair" has a long and honored history for
> the meaning of "the occupant of the chair, the chairman, as invested
> with its dignity". going back to 1658,  and is "Now also used as an
> alternative for 'chairman' or 'chairwoman', esp. deliberately so as
> not to imply a particular sex."
>
> Joel
>
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