"For centuries, theologians have been explaining the unknowable in terms of the-not-worth-knowing." - H. L. Mencken

***

5. Gender.
§ 6. -ette.
The American Heritage Book of English Usage.
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English.
1996

"The suffix -ette, used to mean “female,” as in usherette or drum majorette, was attacked on etymological grounds long before it was widely considered sexist. Historically, -ette is the feminine form of the French diminutive suffix -et that occurs in borrowings such as banquet, clarinet, and tablet. This feminine form occurs in such words as cigarette and lorgnette. In the 20th century, -ette became fairly productive as an English diminutive in inanimate nouns, as in kitchenette, launderette, luncheonette, and novelette.

But the use of -ette to form nouns referring to women is a separate development that probably comes from its use in French to form feminine versions of masculine names, as in Antoinette and Paulette. The suffix was first applied in this sense to an English common noun in suffragette, which became the recognized term for women involved in the suffrage movement in England. Suffragette was always considered insulting by the suffragists in the United States. Nonetheless, suffragette served as the model for a number of words that referred to women who occupied positions once reserved for men, such as chaufferette and sailorette, but of these only usherette and drum majorette have survived. Even in these two terms, the use of -ette in this sense is often considered sexist for the same reason that people criticize the use of -ess: it implies that the unmarked form of the term, reserved for males, is the standard. But -ette carries with it the additional insult of being at heart a diminutive and therefore may be viewed as patronizing and belittling."


I wonder whether feminists who come from countries with primary languages more gendered than English is spend their time doing more productive things.

I propose that to avoid racism, we rename "black hole" to "gravitational singularity cum event horizon".


Addendum:

Something I hadn't seen before writing the last sentence:

FOXNews.com (ie not from The Onion): Texas County Official Sees Race in Term 'Black Hole'

"What do "black hole," "angel food cake," and "devil's food cake" have in common?

They're all racist terms, says a Dallas County, Texas, official.

A county commissioners' meeting this week over traffic tickets turned into a tense discussion over race when one commissioner said the county's collections office was like a certain astronomical phenomenon.

"It sounds like Central Collections has become a black hole," Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said during the Monday meeting.

One black official demanded an apology, and Commissioner John Wiley Price, who also is black, said that type of language is unacceptable.

At the meeting, Mayfield said he intended his comments to be taken in the context of the scientific meaning, and became upset that he was being misunderstood.

In astronomy, the term black hole refers to a star that has collapsed upon itself, creating something so dense and small that it does not have any physical properties besides a gravitational force so great that even light cannot escape its pull.

Later, Price told MyFOXdfw.com that he believed it and other terms were racist.

"So if it's 'angel food cake,' it's white. If it's 'devil's food cake,' it's black. If you're the 'black sheep of the family,' then you gotta be bad, you know. 'White sheep,' you're okay. You know?" Price said.

Price said people should watch their words when it comes to stereotypes.

"I think people should always be careful. You know, I'm okay if I'm 'bartering' with you. ... But if I try to 'Jew you down,' Oooooh. Is that racist? I thought it meant the same thing? No, maybe it doesn't."

The world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking might have a solution to the problem over perception of the astronomical term. He refers to the phenomenon as "a singularity.""


Comments elsewhere:

" * The color white is to become "pigment-challenged".
* The 1929 financial crisis is to be called "somber Tuesday".
* Perfectly-absorbing objects are to be described as "reflectivity-challenged bodies".
* The last shopping day before Christmas is to be referred to as "Obscure Friday".
* The 14th Century epidemic of plague is to be called "achromatic death".
* Underground trade is to be defined as "reduced visibility market".
* Look out for those nasty "null-albedo holes" in space."

"No one thinks that the fact that the color green is associated with both envy and environmentalism means that environmentalists are envious."

"Yeah, don't let these guys whitewash this away. Obviously this is the white elephant in the room. Don't let anyone complain that you are making a white whale of this as that's just white noise. Terms and phrase like white power, "That's white of you", etc. are all positive terms. They are going to wipe out in the white water of your argument. Soon they be putting up the white flag. With positive phrases like, White lightening, white heads, white trash, white as a ghost, dumpling white, white as a sheet, he turned white, and white cracker it's no wonder whites do so well."

"It all reminds me of the controversy concerning the word niggardly. Where the African/American on the commission didn't understand the derivation of the term and reflexively went into overdrive because of the way it sounded,thereby showing his ignorance. He wasn't the one who had to apologize. Then things got silly.So don't use this word anymore. I am not running for office so I will."