Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Hawkmoon on January 26, 2012, 12:45:53 AM
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I wonder if it's just ignorance of the English language, or if there's an underlying motive ...
http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-st-charles-girl-called-hero-after-calm-911-call-to-save-dads-life-20120124,0,3897857.story?hpt=us_bn6
The point being: Whatever happened to the good, old-fashioned word "heroine"? It used to be, guys who did wonderful acts of bravery were "heroes" and gals who did such were "heroines." Now, in this age of gender blurring, I guess it's not acceptable to have young ladies think of themselves as the feminine version -- they have to think of themselves as "heroes."
Faugh!
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I wonder if it's just ignorance of the English language, or if there's an underlying motive ...
http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-st-charles-girl-called-hero-after-calm-911-call-to-save-dads-life-20120124,0,3897857.story?hpt=us_bn6
The point being: Whatever happened to the good, old-fashioned word "heroine"? It used to be, guys who did wonderful acts of bravery were "heroes" and gals who did such were "heroines." Now, in this age of gender blurring, I guess it's not acceptable to have young ladies think of themselves as the feminine version -- they have to think of themselves as "heroes."
Faugh!
"Heroine" is ambiguous; it could just mean the female protagonist in a drama, with no heroic qualities at all. I prefer the word "hero" in this case. We know what a hero is, and the person's sex has little to do with it.
(I also dislike the word "chairwoman". The title is "chairman", and if a woman can do the job more power to her, she doesn't need a diminutive substitute title)
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Using the gender-neutral "hero" has been in common use for a while now. Since many different acts can denote/connote heroic behavior, and many of these are not inherently masculine or feminine, I don't believe that using "hero" to describe a female confuses the meaning. Besides, the English language has been dropping gender specific nouns since it's genesis. ;-)
Moreover, if I were writing a script for a newscast, I would be more likely to use the word "hero" over "heroine" to prevent some members of the audience from thinking that a heroic female has just been called an illicit drug. =)
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"Heroine" is ambiguous; it could just mean the female protagonist in a drama, with no heroic qualities at all. I prefer the word "hero" in this case. We know what a hero is, and the person's sex has little to do with it.
(I also dislike the word "chairwoman". The title is "chairman", and if a woman can do the job more power to her, she doesn't need a diminutive substitute title)
Woman is the diminutive form of man? I did not know that.
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Woman is the diminutive form of man? I did not know that.
Touché. :) That's not what I said; I said "chairwoman" is a made-up word and therefore could be construed as diminutive.
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[head-scratching smiley]
As long as it's not "gentlelady." Now there's a made-up word for you. And one that accomplishes the opposite of what is intended! rant/off
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Woman is the diminutive form of man? I did not know that.
It kind of is, actually.
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"Heroine" is ambiguous; it could just mean the female protagonist in a drama, with no heroic qualities at all. I prefer the word "hero" in this case. We know what a hero is, and the person's sex has little to do with it.
You realize that "hero" has exactly the same possible meaning, right?
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You realize that "hero" has exactly the same possible meaning, right?
Perhaps. But Dudley Do-Right was not the one constantly getting tied to the RR tracks by Snidely Whiplash. ;)
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at a bar i once had an in depth conversation with a woman who preferred not to think of herself as an "actress", but rather as an "actor". i never would have thought the term demeaning, but she was adamant that it was somehow a lesser position.
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The male embraces the female, in English.
"Heroine" is the proper term for a female hero, though a mixed group of folks who exhibit heroic qualities would be referred to as "heroes."
No need to further degenerate and uglify English.
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Calling 911 is heroism now ???
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Calling 911 is heroism now ???
Only if you do it calmly.
stay safe.
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Calling 911 is heroism now ???
Done smartly and calmly by a 7 year old girl (read the article), I'd say yeah.
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Calling 911 is heroism now ???
When the option is a 7-y.o. performing a trachaeotomy.....yes.....
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Touché. :) That's not what I said; I said "chairwoman" is a made-up word and therefore could be construed as diminutive.
"Chairman" is also a made-up word. It describes the "man" who "chairs" a committee.
The mother of the Reverend William Sloan Coffin, former chaplain of Yale University, was about a ardent a feminist as could be found in the glory days of N.O.W. Catherine Coffin was, by her express choice, addressed as "chairwoman" of committees she chaired. She did not in any way consider the title a "diminutive."
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I would have stopped, blue pencil poised, over that one, too, but then I would have read on, confident that these professional wordcrafters, these Journalists, these well-paid literary experts, must have been right.
Barely worth a half toss or a half turn in bed that night.
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I don't really care a great deal about gender specific terminology. Chairman/Chairwoman/Chairperson, my staff got me a t-shirt for my birthday last year that had HBIC in large letters across the front. That would be me.
You can only be made to feel diminutive if you allow yourself to be.
But as zxcvbob said, heroine is not a made-up word. And she is one.
I'm really surprised none of you navy boys have weighed in on the use of "Sir" in the Navy, regardless of gender.
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I don't really care a great deal about gender specific terminology. Chairman/Chairwoman/Chairperson, my staff got me a t-shirt for my birthday last year that had HBIC in large letters across the front. That would be me.
You can only be made to feel diminutive if you allow yourself to be.
But as zxcvbob said, heroine is not a made-up word. And she is one.
I'm really surprised none of you navy boys have weighed in on the use of "Sir" in the Navy, regardless of gender.
Didn't have too much dealings with the fair sex wearing officer braid in the submarine service. However the one I did have regular dealings with preferred Ma'am. She was a Special Security Officer in the SCIF facility I worked in. Decent enough person, her degree was in fashion design.
A college education,
An act of congress,
And by the grace of god a leader of men.
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I'm really surprised none of you navy boys have weighed in on the use of "Sir" in the Navy, regardless of gender.
I saw that in a STAR TREK movie .... was wondering about how it came about. [tinfoil] [popcorn]
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I don't really care a great deal about gender specific terminology. Chairman/Chairwoman/Chairperson, my staff got me a t-shirt for my birthday last year that had HBIC in large letters across the front. That would be me.
You can only be made to feel diminutive if you allow yourself to be.
But as zxcvbob said, heroine is not a made-up word. And she is one.
I'm really surprised none of you navy boys have weighed in on the use of "Sir" in the Navy, regardless of gender.
We really try to go for ma'am, tradition or not. Mister is actually a trickier proposition to either use correctly or use intentionally incorrectly. Of course most of the ossifers being insulted don't know enough. I've seen several female officers get their flakes pretty frosted over getting called sir. Usually the ones that you could call an honest mistake for gender ID...
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I've seen several female officers get their flakes pretty frosted over getting called sir. Usually the ones that you could call an honest mistake for gender ID...
http://youtu.be/mBLDBDFRp6E
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Truth be known aren't all words made up?
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Ma'am for females, Sir for males.
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Ma'am for females, Sir for males.
For Fistful?
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For Fistful?
[barf]
=D