Gender-neutral language in state laws

[Michael Newman]

Of course there's egregious case of MANhattan.


Michael Newman
Associate Professor of Linguistics
Queens College/CUNY
michael.newman at qc.cuny.edu



On Feb 4, 2013, at 6:30 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Gender-neutral language in state laws
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> And of course, from "woman." And the "son" from "person."
>
> I seem to have lived through this at least 37 years ago.
>
> The price of paranoia is eternal vigilance.
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 6:20 PM, Hollis Barnhart <hbarnhart at highlands.com>wrote:
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>> Poster:       Hollis Barnhart <hbarnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: Gender-neutral language in state laws
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> I would have also removed the man from hu.
>>
>> Hollis Barnhart
>> On Feb 4, 2013 5:25 PM, "Benjamin Barrett" <gogaku at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>>
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>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
>>> Subject:      Gender-neutral language in state laws
>>>
>>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> According to the Seattle Times =
>>> (http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020282616_genderneutralxml.html
>>> ),=
>>> Washington is the third state to do a complete overhaul of its laws to =
>>> effectuate gender neutrality.
>>>
>>> Among the interesting changes (see also =
>>> http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020282625_gendersidexml.html):
>>>
>>> "his" -> "his or her" (perhaps this sequence was selected to match "he =
>>> or she")
>>> fisherman -> fisher
>>> freshman -> first-year student
>>> (railway) fireman -> fire tender
>>> longshoreman -> longshore worker
>>> man's cause -> person's cause
>>> man's past -> humankind's past
>>> ombudsman -> ombuds (despite it being a borrowing, "-man" appears to =
>>> mean "man" in Swedish (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/man#Swedish) and =
>>> has the appearance of gender bias in English)
>>> penmanship -> handwriting
>>> sportsmanship -> sporting/hunting behavior
>>>
>>> Excluded from change for concerns about confusion:
>>> manhole
>>> manlock
>>>
>>> Benjamin Barrett
>>> Seattle, WA=
>>>
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> --
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