Okay, call me sexist, rascist, homophobe, xenophobe........

Library is transitioning to computer room.

Without the inconvenience of physical books, corrections to word use and historical errors may be made at any time.

Thus, there will not be any improper gender terms or ethnic slurs rubbed in the faces of the students, and they can enter the adult world unsullied by such language and attitudes.
 
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In the year of our Lord 2021 I still believe Pluto is a planet ... and I could care less about uranus .... I only care about myanus

We had a British school teacher . If you were an adult named Smith he would call you "Mister Smith" ..... if you were a boy he called you "Master Smith" ..... and wondered why the class broke out in laughter when he called one boy Master Bates.

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kgruber said:
.................or whatever!

But can you explain to me why "stewardess" is a bad word? I must be too old to get it!

I am now even seeing that "Flight attendant" is bad.
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Language never stops changing, and in English there's been a trend to less gender distinction in job titles over the past couple of centuries. Words like "authoress," "oratrix," and "poetess" were already mostly obsolete 100 years ago (and "aviatrix" was almost always tongue-in-cheek); now "actress," "hostess," and "stewardess" are going the same way. No big deal, and no different from ties getting wider or skinnier, or hemlines going up or down.
 
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Now they’re more of a hall monitor than a flight attendant. No more “coffee, tea or…”

I can’t say that I blame them with the behavior of the people who fly now
 
Everskyward said:
Idiots actually thinking they're helping the students.
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No, they’re saving state funds by not requiring thousands upon thousands of students to continue school, requiring more teachers and facilities. It’s all about money.
 
I’ve notice people in entertainment are now all Actors. No more Actress to be seen.

Cheers
 
So what gender-neutral term is the UK now using to refer to their monarch?
 
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al
 
rpadula said:
Some people call me Maurice
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Sure, Steve.
9a2d13c3f9d33b9a9bedb9dd1fdb8630.jpg
 
David Megginson said:
Language never stops changing, and in English there's been a trend to less gender distinction in job titles over the past couple of centuries. Words like "authoress," "oratrix," and "poetess" were already mostly obsolete 100 years ago (and "aviatrix" was almost always tongue-in-cheek); now "actress," "hostess," and "stewardess" are going the same way. No big deal, and no different from ties getting wider or skinnier, or hemlines going up or down.
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If it's no big deal, then why do you care if I prefer stewardess?
 
Half Fast said:
So nobody says “Queen” or “Prince” or “Princess” or “Lord” or “Lady” anymore?
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I was being sarcastic...

But we still call the male president's wife the "First Lady", not "First Spouse". I also recall hearing reference to the "Second Gentleman".
 
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A Martin said:
In the year of our Lord 2021 I still believe Pluto is a planet ..
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If you want to know the other side of the story, “How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming” is a great book about why Pluto was cancelled.
 
I must confess to liking the new term, "parter" rather than boyfriend, girlfriend, roommate with privileges, etc...
 
Wingsofglass said:
If you want to know the other side of the story, “How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming” is a great book about why Pluto was cancelled.
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Pluto has to be a planet. Otherwise it screws up the mnemonic for the order of the planets. “Mother Very Eagerly Made A Jelly Sandwich Under No Protest.”
 
David Megginson said:
Can you link to the post where I wrote that?
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That's not what I meant, lol, which kind of proves a point...

What I meant was that if it's not a big deal, why do you - as in - whoever is offended - care?

More specific is generally better, lol, which is another reason why sex / gendered terms are actually often more helpful.
 
Half Fast said:
So nobody says “Queen” or “Prince” or “Princess” or “Lord” or “Lady” anymore?
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It's a slow trend, like I wrote. They don't all change at once.

Stong (irregular) verbs have been gradually disappearing from English for 1,000 years, but they're not gone yet. Ditto for synthetic case endings for nouns (we've lost the accusative and dative, but still have the genitive "s").
 
kgruber said:
.................or whatever!

But can you explain to me why "stewardess" is a bad word? I must be too old to get it!

I am now even seeing that "Flight attendant" is bad.
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Same reason we call mothers “birthing people”
 
RyanShort1 said:
That's not what I meant, lol, which kind of proves a point...

What I meant was that if it's not a big deal, why do you - as in - whoever is offended - care?

More specific is generally better, lol, which is another reason why sex / gendered terms are actually often more helpful.
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I care about language for the same reason I care about aviation — I think it's interesting.

But language does matter to people for other reasons (as you can see from all the emotional reactions in this thread). It's not just a mechanical thing, but part of how we see ourselves as human beings.

The Victorians panicked about "vulgarity"; some people today panic about "political correctness"; the Québecois panic about "anglicismes" creeping into French — there's always a reactionary group seeing a threat to society in whatever language change is happening at the time. Plus ça change…
 
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Everskyward said:
I must confess to liking the new term, "parter" rather than boyfriend, girlfriend, roommate with privileges, etc...
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I like "partner" too, and have been trying to adopt it after hearing my UK in-laws bandy it about. It's still not natural or instinctive for me.

It's weird though, as it's very contextual. Some places see it as a neutral term like "spouse", other places definitely don't and give me that squiggle-eyed uncomfortable look, as they presume it to mean same-sex partner. Which is funny in its own way. Looking at you, Texas :D
 
Half Fast said:
Pluto has to be a planet. Otherwise it screws up the mnemonic for the order of the planets. “Mother Very Eagerly Made A Jelly Sandwich Under No Protest.”
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What's the mnemonic for when Pluto's orbit is inside of Neptune's? It happens for about 20 years every couple of centuries.
 
schmookeeg said:
I like "partner" too, and have been trying to adopt it after hearing my UK in-laws bandy it about. It's still not natural or instinctive for me.

It's weird though, as it's very contextual. Some places see it as a neutral term like "spouse", other places definitely don't and give me that squiggle-eyed uncomfortable look, as they presume it to mean same-sex partner. Which is funny in its own way. Looking at you, Texas :D
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There's also business partner or dance partner or even aircraft partner. Language is messy and confusing, and that's what makes it beautiful.
 
Rushie said:
Have you noticed math is now “maths”? Plural? What’s with that?!
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and what used to be an equation...is now a number sentence....or some such thing.
I think the Language Artists have been at work.....
 
Wingsofglass said:
If you want to know the other side of the story, “How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming” is a great book about why Pluto was cancelled.
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I was taking an astronomy class in college when Pluto got deemed to no longer be a planet. My professor was very strongly on the side of it not being a planet, and thought it never should've been one. So, a good time to be taking that class.

It also means that I get to tell my kids "When I was your age, Pluto was a planet!"
 
Why do they call them “Firemen”?…..they put out fires right? shouldn’t they be called something like “Extinguishers”?
 
I’m not telling my wife Uranus is big enough to be a planet….
Ted said:
I was taking an astronomy class in college when Pluto got deemed to no longer be a planet. My professor was very strongly on the side of it not being a planet, and thought it never should've been one. So, a good time to be taking that class.

It also means that I get to tell my kids "When I was your age, Pluto was a planet!"
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RyanB said:
“Whoa Dad, you must be old!”

;)
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I've been told "I heard about this thing that happened a long time ago in the 1990s."
 
Everskyward said:
It's been happening for a long time. When I was a kid in the 60s, they changed History to "Social Studies" and English to "Language Arts".
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Oh, it was worse than that.

I remember that both "history" and "civics" were included in the "social studies" requirements for high school general education. There was even a 1 semester required course called "Capitalism vs Comunism".

The modern educator would surely be apoplectic at the thought of these abominations being required in our, now, kinder and gentler primary education system.
 
dmspilot said:
It doesn't take 40 years to learn a word.
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Well ... I thought my little plane had a cockpit but I'm now informed it is a flight deck!
 

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I wish they'd hurry up and find the right words for everything so that all of our problems will finally be solved!

Everskyward said:
I must confess to liking the new term, "parter" rather than boyfriend, girlfriend, roommate with privileges, etc...
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I don't like "partner" because it doesn't tell me what kind of partner. I have to try to get that from the context but it's often ambiguous. Is it a business partner? Tennis partner? Airplane partner? Training partner? Romantic partner? I can't tell.
 
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