[net.women] Ombudsman

bstempleton (05/05/83)

Ombudsperson?  I had heard that this was a foreign word introduced into
our language.  Turning Ombudsman into Ombudsperson is like turning
"mantra" into "persontra" because it's sexist.

mcdaniel (05/11/83)

#R:watmath:-501600:uiucdcs:31600014:000:447
uiucdcs!mcdaniel    May 10 17:52:00 1983

>From Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary:

om-buds-man : n, pl om-buds-men [Swedish, lit., representative,
   fr. "ombud" charge, commission + "man" man] : a government official
   (as in Sweden or New Zealand) appointed to receive and investigate
   complaints made by individuals against abuses or capricious acts of
   public officials.

It's just as sexist as any other -man word.

				Tim McDaniel
				(. . . pur-ee!uiucdcs!mcdaniel)