(Snip) Of course, you might argue that lack of a formal gender system in English has been a motivator for our intense scrutiny of our language and our persnickety analysis of same. It's an unfortunate coincidence that gender and sex became so

There is a subclause in the Offensive Terminology Act that says that members of an affected group may apply such a term affectionately to another of their group, even though such an action is forbidden to outsiders. (Perhaps, tolerated when used

But I think that the exception reflects something else: that the idea of gender in nouns is a load of ... We might as usefully have labelled them red and blue, or Porgy and Bess, or class 1 and class 2. The last being what the the grammarians did

To give an example that's at least related, Padraig recently ... is often seen as sexism or a relic of sexism. But then why do some women, avowed feminists, insist in being called "chairwoman", "policewoman", etc.? It is

Hmm. Gender and sex are pretty possessive things, so that final 'their' just has to be rite, right? wrmst rgrds Robin Bignall Quiet part of Hertfordshire England http://homepage.ntlworld.com/docrobin/homepage.htm

... Those languages which have genders for nouns, as far ... une francaise, un anglais, une anglaise etc. Are there exceptions? I can offer one: the Gaelic word "cailín" (anglicised as "colleen") meaning "girl"

People who speak less gendered languages than English (such as ... but none of them correspond in any way with sex. Why doesn't having nine (or eighteen) genders make Zulu a *more* gendered language than English? I suppose the grammarians who

... Those languages which have genders for nouns, as far ... une francaise, un anglais, une anglaise etc. Are there exceptions? I can offer one: the Gaelic word "cailín" (anglicised as "colleen") meaning "girl"

... Those languages which have genders for nouns, as far as I know, always distinguish inhabitants by gender and, coincidentally, by sex. Un francais, une francaise, un anglais, une anglaise etc. Are there exceptions? I can offer one: the Gaelic

In Russian, I believe I am Yuzhnaya Afrikanyets, and my ... speak strongly genered languages might make such mistakes in English. This is beginning to occupy more space in my brain than I can comfortably spare. Those languages which have genders