Let's Talk About Words...

 Greetings,

Some will ask why this is not in my Olde Wordes blog, you will be given that answer in the not too distant future. In some ways it really should be in that blog as this has been forgotten and has been relegated to a part of our language's history. This all being said, I am likely to make myself unpopular with some of my readers, though this blog doesn't get particularly many of those. In any case, I hope that you will bear with me until the end...

I will state that political correctness as a concept is a good idea, we should be concerned with how we address people, and be concerned for other's feelings, but there is a point at which this becomes ridiculous. I have spoken about the difficulties of being a gentleman in this modern age. I am a humanist, which means I believe in the true equality of every human to live a happy life, doing what they enjoy so long as it does not impinge on the happiness of another human being. I believe that everyone can be better, and I strive to be so.

I do not want to turn back the system. No, I want people to be treated equally, as human beings. To be given what they need, as human beings. I do not care for divisions of race, nor religion, nor culture, nor ethnicity, nor sexuality, nor gender, nor ability; such differences are simply the definitions of human diversity, and we must appreciate them all. With that all said, let's talk about a word...

To be precise, let's talk about part of a word, a suffix no less, that being, "-man." (Yes, I know I have stepped into hot water already.) Some would have this removed entirely, some would have all instances changed to "-person" to make it genderless. 

I say that the word is already genderless, just like in the word "human", one of my favourite words.

The Latin root of "-man-" has nothing to do with gender, in fact it has nothing even to do with an individual. The Latin root meaning is "hand". This is where we get words like "manual", "manage" and "manufacture", among many other words. This Latin root then links to the suffix "-man" because it is the hand performs the operation, that performs tasks.

The suffix "-man" means "person who operates, performs, or does something" this means that the "-man" in all these words is already genderless, there is no reason to change it.

(For your reference: https://www.wordreference.com/definition/man)

In my opinion, the changing of "-man" to "-person" and other such changes is a "knee-jerk" reaction to the presence of the word "man" being present, which offends some people who are looking to be offended. These people will claim that the presence of such words perpetuates the patriarchy which has perpetuated through history. I think it is a result of people being over-zealous about the language without understanding the origins of the language, without understanding its history.

The same knee-jerk reactions can be seen across language where language has been softened to lessen its impact against groups. We could examine the progression of "shell-shock" to "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" as an example; I have already spoken about language regarding disabilities. Many of these changes have been done without consultation of the individuals who will be affected by these changes, then backed by "politically-astute" or "politically-conscious" individuals so they pass through community requirements so they become accepted.

The more we consciously divide humanity, and continue to do so, the more these rifts will appear. The more these rifts appear, the more people will use these rifts will be used against us to keep us separated. While we are all being kept separated, distracted by the spelling and pronunciation of words, or how they are used, real changes are being affected in our world. Some of these changes we cannot undo once they are done.

Who benefits from people being separated by religion? Who benefits from people being separated by race? Who benefits from being being separated by gender? Who benefits from people being separated by disability? These are the questions that need to be answered, not about the differences. The differences are what make us special, they create the diversity in humanity, and are our strength. They allow us to see the world from different perspectives; if we can only see how we can work together, we might be able to solve the important problems in the world, problems facing humanity. Not problems facing one division of humanity.

Cheers,

Henry.