ken@ihuxq.UUCP (ken perlow) (01/09/84)
Thanks to all who have sent me responses. The question was,
"Is there a non-sexist term for 'gentleman'/'gentlemanly'?"
One person suggested "gentles." Interesting, and potentially
useful, but that's cheating, since it's not a real word.
The two top contenders that are authentic English words are
"gallant" and "chivalrous." Somehow, though, they seem much too French.
Anybody have something in Anglo-Saxon?
There was a time, of course, when French was the language of the
oppressor, Saxon that of the oppressed. Time may heal all wounds,
but it does not synonyms make. Richard Mitchell (in "Less Than
Words Can Say") points out that the state can pardon you, but
it takes a friend to forgive you. Likewise, hearts are broken, not
fractured. I guess I was looking for something in a "nice guy."
Of course, the "gentle" in "gentleman" is obviously not Saxon, so I
may truly be barking up a wrong tree. That book, incidentally, is a
delightful flame on language and education, if anyone cares to
discuss it.
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..ihnp4!ihuxq!ken *** ***robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison) (01/10/84)
I haven't looked it up, but didn't Shakespeare use "gentles"? - Toby Robison decvax!ittvax!eosp1!robison or: allegra!eosp1!robison (maybe: princeton!eosp1!robison)
cwb@cbneb.UUCP (Bill Brown) (01/10/84)
Gentles isn't a real word? My dictionary indeed lists gentle (n.), but seems to limit its meaning to a person of gentle birth. While gentleman seems to be commonly used primarily to describe one with "proper" behavior, its primary definition refers to gentle birth. Perhaps it is not stretching the meaning of gentle too much to use it in place of gentleperson.
rfg@hound.UUCP (R.GRANTGES) (01/12/84)
Not that it really matters, since in our language we usually feel free to create new words (like Ms.) when we think it is necessary, but "Gentles" <is> a real, recognized in dictionaries in nearly this usage, word. The Oxford Universal Dictionary, Third Edition, Revised to 1964, printed in the U.S. by Rand McNally, says: Gentle ... B. sb. 1.One who is of gentle birth or rank (rare in sing.;Obs. in pl. exc. arch.) ME. *b. Used in polite address - 1641. ... 1. b. Gentles I would entreat you a courtesie MARMION. Furthermore, I actually used the term (wow!) in a real postal-type letter a couple of years ago and the world did not collapse. That means the term is in "current" usage :-) Dick Grantges,AT&T Bell Labs, hound!rfg
chuqui@cae780.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach) (01/12/84)
Having just waded my way through Mallory and the Camelot histories, I think
you could consider chivalrous to be very much an English word. As far as
Mallory was concerned, if they weren't busy killing each other they were
being chivalrous. Of course, back then killing each other was chivalrous as
well, as long as it was done properly :->
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