[Lexicog] First Lady

[CAROLINE REUL]

Fritz, I think the term is "Madame President," also Madame Chancellor as far as I know.  I have never seen Angela Merkel's husband referred to as anything but his proper name or "ihr Mann", though I don't read the German newspapers very often.
   
  In reply to John, I don't believe the origins of one term need to dictate the nature or the coinage of the gender opposite term, especially if centuries lie between the genesis of the two. "First Master" or "First Lord" will never become the new term in America, as titles smacking of nobility are out of place here. Actually in the US we would use the term "Gentleman of the house", hence "First Gentleman" would fit the office. First Lad and First Dude are surely humorous contributions to the topic. First Husband seems to be a possibility, however no one would ever call the First Lady "First Wife" which seems to reduce the person in question to nothing more than another object belonging to the office holder, analogous to "First Dog," "First Cat" or "First Pet", all of which were used humerously in the media to refer to Bill Clinton's pets.
   
  What is interesting, though not relevant to lexicography, is what the office of "First Gengleman" will entail.
   
  Caroline Reul

Fritz Goerling <Fritz_Goerling at sil.org> wrote:
              Chaz,
  
  This would show to me (also in English and German) that a female head of State
  would not be called First Lady (maybe Mrs. President). I cannot imagine that Hillary Rodham Clinton, should she make it to the top, would be called the First Lady (maybe I am wrong). What I find very funny is the coinage First Gentleman.
  How about Primero Senor or el Hombre Primero in Spanish? Just kidding.
  
  Fritz
        When Panama's president was a woman (1999-2004) the first lady (Primera 
Dama) was her sister. I'm not sure what they would have called the 
president's husband but she was not married at the time.

-Chaz





  

  

         
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