I’m trying to understand why there is a difference between the possessive determiner and pronoun for the female gender (her vs hers) but not for the male gender (his is used for both). “This will be discussed with him and his parents will be informed” and “This will be discussed with her and her parents … Read more
It seems natural and appropriate for an older man to call a non-relative boy/young man “son” to convey endearment. Although I’m not sure, I think it’s unofficially reserved for men’s use only (the older person is male). However, if he younger person was female, “daughter” seems awkward. Is there a analogous term of endearment for … Read more
why is this possible to replace: someone removed his/her with someone removed their can I also change: The user clicks on the button. He/She then sees.. with The user clicks on the button. They then sees.. or how would you ignore gender more elegantly? Answer This called a singular they and its use is common … Read more
The Collins English Dictionary defines a “debutant” as “a person who is making a first appearance in a particular capacity, such as a sportsperson playing in a first game for a team” As the origins of this word lie in the French language, would it be correct to label a female sportsperson making her first … Read more
It is becoming more common for people to explicitly state the pronouns to be used in addressing themselves: he/him, she/her, or they/them. For example, a name tag for a conference might read: Cory Lopez Some Company She/Her Usage seems to have settled on the singular they and them as gender neutral pronouns. Alternatives that were … Read more
I’m writing a story that has a secret society or gang called “The Brotherhood”, and I want to know if this term implies that all members are males (because of the term “Brother”). Would this name still make sense if the story included female characters involved with The Brotherhood? EDIT: I will try to clarify: … Read more
I’ve heard people saying phrases like down below. "That’s not cool, man" "Dude, look at this" "Hey, calm down, bro" But these words are supposed to be said to a male person. (I could be wrong since I’m not an native English speaker) So what word do you use instead to say those phrases to … Read more
I wanted to add a suffix to crone and damsel that would make them masculine without resorting to a male equivalent word, (that’s a different question.) We have the male-to-female conversion example of bachelor → bachelorette Is there a reverse suffix for traditionally feminine words? Croner and damseler (following widower ← widow) seems lacking. Answer … Read more
A “prince” could mean heir to the throne, but I’m speaking of “prince” in the same way that Machiavelli did: as a ruler of a princedom. 1) Is there a word for a female ruler of a princedom? Certainly it’s not “princess”, is it? 2) If not, are there any examples of a female ruler … Read more
I originally heard this in an old episode of the Simpsons, where Apu refers to Marge as “Mrs. Homer Simpson”. I’ve also noticed something similar in the movie “The Wedding Singer” where the titular character refers to a newly-wed couple as “Mr. and Mrs. Harold Fonda”, and a few other times on TV shows at … Read more
