Re: [OT] Grammatic gender

[Karlin High]

On 11/16/2017 7:45 AM, David Kastrup wrote:
> Personally, I don't think that micromanaging gender identities is going
> to help anybody deal better with who and what they and/or others are.

"Shifts in terms have an unfortunate side effect. Many people who don't 
have a drop of malice or prejudice but happen to be older or distant 
from university, media and government spheres find themselves tainted as 
bigots for innocently using passe terms such as "Oriental" or "crippled."

"Arbiters of the changing linguistic fashions must ask themselves 
whether this stigmatization is really what they set out to accomplish."

-- Stephen Pinker, "The Game of the Name," Aug 6 1994 Baltimore Sun

That article is famous for its idea of the "euphemism treadmill:"

"The euphemism treadmill shows that concepts, not words, are in charge. 
Give a concept a new name, and the name becomes colored by the concept; 
the concept does not become freshened by the name."
--
Karlin High
Missouri, USA