[Lexicog] Gender: Crazy English and the awful German language
Fritz Goerling
Fritz_Goerling at SIL.ORG
Wed Apr 12 19:21:41 UTC 2006
How would a politically correct dictionary handle all this "discrimination?"
Fritz Goerling
On the other hand, why can you say "Necessity is the mother of invention"
but not "Necessity is the father of invention" and "mother-of-pearl" and not
"father-of-pearl' and "mother ship" and not "father ship"? Why do we speak
of "daughter languages" and not "son languages"? Why "nursemaid" and not
"nurseman"? Why "maiden voyage" and not "bachelor voyage"? Why is the game
called "Aunt Sally" and not "Uncle Ben"? and so on.
Gender preferences work both ways in English.
John Roberts
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