[TheForge] PC-ness Grammatical Pet Peeve Rant - Way OT

[Craig Schaefer]

If you don't add words and change meanings over time, you've got -----------  
French.....

CraigS
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeffrey Polaski" <jeff.polaski at rgs.uci.edu>
To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 5:23 PM
Subject: RE: [TheForge] PC-ness Grammatical Pet Peeve Rant - Way OT


I'm not sure who wrote this, but it applies:

"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that
English is as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words;
on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways, beat
them
unconscious and rifled their pockets."



Jeff Polaski

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Garrick Peterson
Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 5:01 PM
To: Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: Re: [TheForge] PC-ness Grammatical Pet Peeve Rant - Way OT

To be equally pedantic:

Main Entry: 1sex
Pronunciation: 'seks
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin sexus
1 : either of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many
species and that are distinguished respectively as female or male
especially on the basis of their reproductive organs and structures
2 : the sum of the structural, functional, and behavioral
characteristics of organisms that are involved in reproduction marked
by the union of gametes and that distinguish males and females
3 a : sexually motivated phenomena or behavior b : SEXUAL INTERCOURSE
4 : GENITALIA

Of interest is 4b.

Main Entry: 1gen*der
Pronunciation: 'jen-d&r
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English gendre, from Anglo-French genre, gendre,
from Latin gener-, genus birth, race, kind, gender -- more at KIN
1 a : a subclass within a grammatical class (as noun, pronoun,
adjective, or verb) of a language that is partly arbitrary but also
partly based on distinguishable characteristics (as shape, social
rank, manner of existence, or sex) and that determines agreement with
and selection of other words or grammatical forms b : membership of a
word or a grammatical form in such a subclass c : an inflectional form
showing membership in such a subclass
2 a : SEX <the feminine gender> b : the behavioral, cultural, or
psychological traits typically associated with one sex

Of interest - 2a

English, as a living language, is constantly evolving and changing.
"Sex", regardless of it's origins, is now taken to mean intercourse,
in addition to it's original definitions. "Gender", again regardless
of it's origins, now also means sex.

~G

ref: http://www.webster.com/dictionary/


On 5/29/07, Dan Tull <dantull at numail.org> wrote:
> It's getting so we just can't believe Bruce anymore.
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