Questions tagged [gender]
Questions regarding the grammatical gender of English words.
181
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What dictionary provides gender association for each word? [closed]
As a nonnative English speaker, I often struggle to define gender in many words. Earth is a “she”, war is “he”, for example, but what gender a word “person” belongs to? Same about thousands of other ...
65
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6answers
13k views
Was “man” a gender-neutral word in common usage at some point?
I've seen some times the claim that in the past "man" was a non-gendered word, with "wifman" referring to female individuals and "wereman" referring to male individuals. I've found some indications ...
0
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0answers
53 views
Synesis of gender
Synesis is defined in Wiktionary as
A grammatical construction in which a word takes the gender or
number not of the word with which it should regularly agree, but of
some other implied word:
...
1
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2answers
105 views
How to explicitly specify non-binary support when using pronouns?
My native language uses the equivalent of he/his as the default gender-less pronoun. When using English (as a second language) most people use "he/she" or "him/her" to indicate a person of unknown/...
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1answer
149 views
Should we use “man” or “woman” to describe someone who identifies with female, but with male sexual physical appearance? [closed]
Inspired by a recent gender-noun controversy, I wonder how to properly address someone with obvious male sexual physical appearance, but who is insisted on being called a "she" ( probably because that'...
1
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4answers
350 views
Is there any verb for making a girl more girly?
'Feminize' is used for making a boy more girly. We can say, "She is forcibly feminizing her boyfriend." But is there a word for pushing a girl to be more feminine?
The Oxford Dictionary of English ...
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0answers
54 views
Can “domine” be used to refer to a woman?
In my native language God is named "Dumnezeu" which comes from Latin "Domine Deus". Wiktionary indicates that "Domine" is still being used in English (or at least a dictionary contains it) meaning:
...
21
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11answers
6k views
A term for a woman complaining about things/begging in a cute/childish way
I'm trying to find a fitting translation for a Chinese term, which means that a woman is trying to be cute in front of her man in order to get what she wants. While she does this, her voice will ...
0
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3answers
1k views
“Ladies and Gentlemen” beyond binary gender classification
Hearing the usual greeting on a train, I started wondering if there is already an established alternative to "Ladies and Gentlemen" that is applicable beyond the male/female classification. (For ...
0
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0answers
33 views
Gendered nouns without real gender - examples and origins? [duplicate]
Why is it Mother Earth and not Father Earth?
Why is a ship a she and not a he?
Can you give more examples of similar phenomena?
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0answers
71 views
Is this sentence grammatically correct and can be used for Women's Day?
Let women rise and use their strength to contribute to the world.
I need to use this sentence for a Women's Day social media design. But there are two doubts:
Should it be women or woman?
Let women ...
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2answers
172 views
Can the epicene personal pronoun “they’ be used regardless of semantic gender of the word?
Can the epicene personal pronoun they be used regardless of semantic gender of the word?
In other words, for any word with semantic gender (i.e. lion, lioness, boy, girl, man, woman, cow, bull) ...
1
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2answers
70 views
How can one include all people in one's written and spoken language irrespective of one's gender identity(s)? [closed]
I am totally in favour of including non-binary folks in my written and spoken speech, though I'm not sure exactly how I go about doing it competently without sounding like I am trying to avoid ...
0
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2answers
94 views
Can “old man” be used by females to address unrelated older men?
I'm a fan-translator, translating from Oriental languages to English, and I've been told to translate "uncle" to "old man", since a direct translation would imply a familial relation where there was ...
1
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1answer
704 views
Feminine form of “son” when used as term of endearment [duplicate]
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 ...
0
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1answer
191 views
He, she, it with animals [closed]
When I want to write the story about little puppy, I have found on the street, should I use it or other gender?
0
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1answer
40 views
how to ignore gender nicely in english? can i make the sentence plural? [duplicate]
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 ...
11
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3answers
979 views
Debutante in a sporting context?
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 ...
1
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2answers
190 views
What causes the predominantly female gendering of objects?
In English, objects are not generally gendered, as we have neutral pronouns used specifically for that purpose. I've noticed that when gendered pronouns are used for non-gendered objects, though, ...
5
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1answer
944 views
Specifying Pronouns as He/Him;She/Her;They/Them
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 ...
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1answer
286 views
How to say “unisex for children” in english language (without sounding weird) [closed]
I'm trying to find the professional wording that describes "unisex" (male + female) in the children fashion industry. It seems that most fashion shops simply name this "children" or "kids", avoiding ...
0
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1answer
119 views
Gender of word “Unity”
I'm writing an article in Polish about game engine named "Unity". I constructed the following sentence:
Unity jest bardzo jednolita, jeśli chodzi o encje i komponenty.
This translates more or less ...
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4answers
2k views
Does the term “Brotherhood” imply that all members are males?
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 ...
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3answers
2k views
Is it correct to apply “Housewife” term for an unmarried woman who does house-chores?
I would like to know what is the appropriate label to describe a young woman/girl who is unmarried, stays in her parents' home, does the house chores, and has no income. She is not also looking for a ...
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9answers
26k views
How do you say “Come on, man” to a woman?
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 ...
3
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2answers
6k views
When did the word “guys” become popular as a gender-neutral word?
It's normal nowadays to walk into a room (men and women, boys and girls etc) and go, "Hey guys!". Has this always been the case, or what?
2
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3answers
182 views
How to translate Portuguese demonyms containing gender?
I can say "Brazilian company" (empresa brasileira, in Portuguese) for a company in Brazil. If the company resides in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, in Portuguese we say "empresa mineira", or for ...
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1answer
4k views
Is there a Male suffix equivalent to -et/-ette?
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 ...
0
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1answer
3k views
Feminine form of “god king/emperor”
I'm trying to figure out what the correct feminine forms of "god king" and "god emperor" are. Do I just replace "king" and "emperor" with their feminine equivalents (i.e. "god queen" and "god empress")...
0
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1answer
8k views
Gender neutral noun for brotherhood / sisterhood? [duplicate]
Example 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_White_Brotherhood
Example 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brotherhood_of_Eternal_Love
http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/brotherhood?s=t
Any other ...
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2answers
1k views
Is there a female equivalent of “prince” in the sense of “sovereign”? [closed]
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 ...
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5answers
13k views
Mr. and Mrs. Homer Simpson - Using husband's first/last name for wife?
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 ...
0
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3answers
14k views
Is “sweetheart” gender-specific? [closed]
I'm not a native speaker, but at least here in California, it seems that "sweetheart" refers predominantly to women.
How customary is for a woman to call man "sweetheart"?
4
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1answer
1k views
Does the archaic prefix wer/wep have modern descendants?
From what I’ve read on this site and elsewhere, the root “man” was originally sex-neutral; the sex-specific terms were “wifman” (which later became “woman”) and either “werman” or “wepman”. The male-...
0
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2answers
680 views
Pronouns and Gender Bias // Pronoun and Antecedent Agreement [duplicate]
I understand pronouns and their antecedents must agree (a singular pronoun must have a singular antecedent, and a plural pronoun must have a plural antecedent). However, I can not find an elegant ...
0
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2answers
148 views
What is correct? If Bob was a girl (he / she) would run [closed]
The gender of the subject is masculine but the situation is that the subject is feminine. What should the pronoun be?
2
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3answers
6k views
What should I use: “hero” or “heroine”? [duplicate]
I want to know, can I use hero in this sentence to refer to someone who is female? Does it make sense?
Mom you are my hero.
Or is it better to say
Mom you are my heroine.
2
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3answers
707 views
Is “to scold” gender-specific?
The following meanings for the word "scold" are given in Oxford Dictionaries:
a woman who nags or grumbles constantly.
remonstrate with or rebuke (someone) angrily.
So, the first one is a ...
2
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2answers
144 views
Which pronoun should be used to refer to“young figure”: “it” or “her”?
In my writing group, one man wrote this sentence in an except we critiqued:
John stood for a moment and watched the lithe, young figure make her way down the street.
I suggested it should read "...
3
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1answer
126 views
White Women's T-shirt vs Women's White T-shirt
Which way of describing a women's t-shirt is grammatically correct out of the following two descriptions? 'A white women's t-shirt featuring a flowery design.' or 'A women's white t-shirt featuring a ...
4
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2answers
5k views
Is “handsome” associated with masculinity and “pretty” associated with femininity? [duplicate]
TL;DR— See title:
Are the attributes in “handsome girl” and “pretty boy” perfectly interchangeable?
Is there an implicit, gender-specific connotation in “handsome” (♂) and “pretty” (♀)?
This video ...
46
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4answers
8k views
Usage and origin of “sister” in expressions like “sister company, sister ship, sister site” etc
The term sister is often used figuratively to refer, for instance, to a “sister company” for a company within the same group, or to a “sister site” for sites that belong to the same family. This ...
2
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2answers
103 views
Why does Joseph Addison use 'her' to refer to 'soul'?
I’m reading an article by Joseph Addison, The Tatler #108, dated December 17, 1709. He says:
The finest authors of antiquity have taken him on the more
advantageous side. They cultivate the ...
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1answer
400 views
Is it appropriate to substitute actor for actress retroactively? [closed]
The Wikipedia entry for actor refers to a style guide that advocates a preference of actor over actress:
"When the Observer and the Guardian published their new joint style guide in 2010, it stated ...
1
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1answer
513 views
How to refer to males and females in a trans-positive world? [closed]
I have a presentation coming up with a big client. One of the executives I'm presenting to is a transgender person. For context, I'm in sales and marketing - I make TV commercials.
In the meeting I ...
2
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3answers
4k views
A word for both Gentleman and Lady
Since one can use singular they to avoid sexism in a way or another, I got stuck trying to figure if there is a polite word meaning something like "a group of both Ladies and Gentlemen" that could be ...
0
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1answer
2k views
Why is it common in English to address animals as “it”?
Why is it common in English to address animals as "it"?
It's not an inanimate or abstract object, they have a gender and they're alive.
A chair, idea, tree, rock, etc are an "it", but why does ...
4
votes
1answer
17k views
Why are ships always female? [duplicate]
I was reading wikipedia about a ship and it it's always refered as female. Is it unique to ships?
I've learn in school that words in english does not have a sex, you can call a cats and dogs as "it".
1
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1answer
103 views
Translating his/her when the original language is genderless [duplicate]
I'm translating a course manual but I'm struggling with something. The manual could be read by a man or a woman.
In my own language, he or she or it doesn't exist, so I'm not sure how to make my ...
2
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2answers
995 views
How to ask about a person's child when not knowing the gender? [closed]
I know there are a few questions like this, but I have always had trouble remembering whether or not a person's child is a boy or girl. When I meet them again, it sounds awkward and/or brash to say "...
