|Subject ||'best foot' ugly/clever, plain(ly), banal, dullish, 'girl or woman?' '-person', man/male, '-ess' mistress/madam
10. best foot
Usage Note: According to a traditional rule of grammar, better, not best, should be used in comparisons between two things: Which house of Congress has the better attendance record? This rule is often ignored in practice, but it still has many devoted adherents. In certain fixed expressions, however, best is used idiomatically for comparisons between two: Put your best foot forward. May the best team win! See Usage Notes at have, rather.
* When articulating "right foot" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/Ch/abR speaking posture, "best foot" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
When articulating "our team" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/Ch/abR speaking posture, "the best team" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
Re: Article of "similar-as, comparable-with, (in)famous, fine(ly), continual, 'let/leave, permit', 'rather: had better'" <<Column 16. rather: had better>>
>> You better do it.
"You/SCN ^had^ better/PRM do it." is pronounced as "You better do it."
Re: Article of "'u=a, u=Λ, u=o, ou=' ugly/balky, clever/affable, 'in vain' sanguine/sanguinary/bloodthirsty, prep/7" <<Column 5. ugly/balky/rude & 6. clever, "good-natured", affable>>
4. New England Easily managed; docile: "Oxen must be pretty clever to be bossed around the way they are" Dialect Notes.
5. New England Affable but not especially smart.
6. Chiefly Southern U.S. Good-natured; amiable. See Regional Note at ugly.
* When articulating "ugly" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/Ch/abR speaking posture, "balky" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
When articulating "ugly" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /S/Ch/abT speaking posture, "rude" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
When articulating "ugly" "docile" or "affable" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/abT speaking posture, "clever" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
* When articulating "plainly" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/Ch/abR speaking posture, "plain" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
USAGE NOTE The pronunciation of banal is not settled among educated speakers of American English. Sixty years ago, H.W. Fowler recommended the pronunciation (băn'∂l/[bæ n=l], rhyming with panel), but this pronunciation is now regarded as recondite by most Americans: no member of the Usage Panel prefers this pronunciation. In our 2001 survey, (b∂năl'/[bΛ næl]) is preferred by 58 percent of the Usage Panel, (bā'n∂l/[bæ n=l]) by 28 percent, and (b∂-näl'/[bΛ nal]) by 13 percent (this pronunciation is more common in British English). Some Panelists admit to being so vexed by the problem that they tend to avoid the word in conversation. Speakers can perhaps take comfort in knowing that these three pronunciations each have the support of at least some of the Usage Panel and that none of them is incorrect. When several pronunciations of a word are widely used, there is really no right or wrong one.
If articulating [oiΛ=] from /S/mES, “banal"/+-, “unoriginal"/+bp, “stock"/+cp, and “ordinary"/Ch/+-, “boring"/Ch/+bp, “dull"/Ch/+cp are pronounced.
* When taking (co-articulating) English/USA secondary speaking posture of cp in the mouth (which comes to tense the wrist/Wr or elbow/El.), "banal" is pronounced as [bΛ næl].
When taking (co-articulating) British secondary speaking posture of cp in the nasal cavity (which comes to tense both the (right/left) armpit (points); /Ap), "banal" is pronounced as [bΛ nal].
* When articulating "banal [bΛ næl]" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/Ch/abR speaking posture, [bæ n=l] is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
* When articulating "dully" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/Ch/abR speaking posture, "dullish" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
15. girl or woman?
girl or woman?
Girl is used more often as an alternative for woman, especially in reference to a young woman, than boy is for man. (Boy in reference to an adult is normally found only in the plural or in meanings such as boyfriend.) However, the use of girl for a teenager or an adult is often regarded as patronizing or disrespectful, especially when it comes from a man.
* When articulating "woman" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/Ch/abR speaking posture, "girl" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
When articulating "man" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/Ch/abR speaking posture, "boyfriend" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
And when articulating "men" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /S/Ch/abT speaking posture, "boys" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
16. chairperson: "-person"
Terms that are not gender-specific have increasingly grown in prominence, and ones incorporating the suffix -person are now common (chairperson, spokesperson). The terms that have taken hold most strongly tend to be those that do not simply replace -man (or -woman) with -person but are more subtly neutral with respect to sex: chair rather than chairperson, representative rather than congressperson. Despite the powerful trend toward inclusive terms, however, it remains true that when the members of the group at issue are predominantly male, the traditional term incorporating -man tends to be used more frequently (chairman, fisherman). Forms with -woman are also seen, though in most cases these are now less common than the form incorporating -person. Choose gender-neutral words when they are available.
Usage Note: The word person has found widespread use in recent decades as a gender-neutral alternative to man in the names of occupational and social roles, such as businessperson, chairperson, spokesperson, and layperson. In addition, a variety of entirely new, more inclusive phrases have arisen to compete with or supplant -man compounds. Now we often hear first-year student instead of freshman and letter carrier instead of mailman. In other cases, a clipped form, such as chair for chairman, or a phrase, such as member of the clergy for clergyman, has found widespread use as a neutral alternative. Reflecting this trend, new standards of official usage for occupational titles have been established by the U.S. Department of Labor and other government agencies; for instance, in official contexts, terms such as firefighter and police officer are now generally used in place of fireman and policeman. See Usage Note at man.
USAGE: People is the word usually used to refer to more than one individual: there were a hundred people at the reception. Persons is rarely used, except in official English: several persons were interviewed.
* chairman (chair/T + 's/P);
When articulating "chairman" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/Ch/abR speaking posture, "chair" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
And when articulating "chairman" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /S/Ch/abT speaking posture, "chairperson" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
* spokesman (speech/T/Ch + s/C2/Ch); mouthpiece (speech/P/Ch + s/T/Ch);
And when articulating "spokesman" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /S/Ch/abT speaking posture, "spokesperson" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
* congressman (congress/T + 's/P);
When articulating "congressman" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/Ch/abR speaking posture, "representative" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
And when articulating "congressman" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /S/Ch/abT speaking posture, "congressperson" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
* fisherman (fish/T/Ch + 's/P/Ch); angler (fish/P/Ch + s/T/Ch);
* businessman (business/T + s/S);
And when articulating "businessman" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /S/Ch/abT speaking posture, "businessperson" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
* layman (average/P/Ch + s/T/Ch);
And when articulating "layman" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /S/Ch/abT speaking posture, "layperson" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
* freshman (first-year/T/Ch + s/C2/Ch); sophomore (second-year/T/Ch + s/C2/Ch); junior (third-year/P/Ch + s/T/Ch); senior (fourth-year/P/Ch + s/T/Ch);
* mailman (mail/C2 + 's/P);
* clergyman (Christianity/C2/Ch + 's/P/Ch); Christian (Christianity/T + s/S);
clergy [k(i=u)h lΛ zi] (Christianity/P + s/C2);
When articulating "clergyman" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/Ch/abR speaking posture, "clergy [k(=u)h lΛ zi]" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
* fireman (fire/T/Ch + s/C2/Ch);
And when articulating "fireman" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /S/Ch/abT speaking posture, "firefighter" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
* policeman (police/T + s/S); police [p(=Λ)h li s=] (policeman/S + 's/P)
When articulating "policeman" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/Ch/abR speaking posture, "police [p(i=o)h li s=]" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
And when articulating "policeman" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /S/Ch/abT speaking posture, "police officer" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
* people (person/T + s/S); persons (person/C2 + s/S)
person [p(i=Λ)h h=h s=h h=n] (person [p(=Λ)h h=h s=h h=n]/S/Ch + s/S/Ch) or (person/S/Ch/+cp)
That is, as the plural form of singular "sheep [s(i=)h h=h p=h]" is still "sheep [s(i=)h h=h h=p]", the plural form of singular "person" is still "person". <<homonym>>
a six-person car; a two-person show
people as singular or plural?
In most cases people behaves as a plural, as in People are funny; you never know what they will do. When people means "a group of human beings sharing one specific nationality, culture, or language," however, it is regarded as a singular and when used in the plural, takes an s plural ending: a Native American people of the Southwest, one of several such peoples noted for their peaceableness. The possessive of people is formed by adding an apostrophe + s if one people is stipulated: the people's choice of a new president. If many peoples are stipulated, the possessive is formed by adding an apostrophe after the s: various Caribbean peoples' representatives at the conference. People is the preferred form in designating human beings in the plural generally: Thousands of people [not persons] jammed the stadium. What on earth will people [not persons] think if you do that? Use persons only in certain narrow, typically legalistic or otherwise official, contexts: the Bureau of Missing Persons; the arrest of three suspicious persons loitering outside the White House gates.
Usage Note: As a term meaning "a body of persons sharing a culture," people is a singular noun, as in As a people the Pueblo were noteworthy for their peacefulness. Its plural is peoples: the many and varied peoples of West Africa. But when used to mean "humans," people is plural and has no corresponding singular form. English is not unique in this respect; Spanish, Italian, Russian, and many other languages have a plural word meaning "people" that has no singular. Some grammarians have insisted that people is a collective noun that should not be used as a substitute for persons when referring to a specific number of individuals. By this thinking, it is correct to say Six persons were arrested, not Six people were arrested. But people has always been used in such contexts, and almost no one makes the distinction anymore. Persons is still preferred in legal contexts, however, as in Vehicles containing fewer than three persons may not use the left lane during rush hours. Only the singular person is used in compounds involving a specific numeral: a six-person car; a two-person show. But people is used in other compounds: people mover; people power. These examples are exceptions to the general rule that plural nouns cannot be used in such compounds; note that we do not say teethpaste or books-burning. See Usage Note at man.
* "people" of "people mover" and "people power" is English /S word and means "A body of persons sharing a common religion, culture, language, or inherited condition of life" or "nation: a nation, community, ethnic group, or nationality; a proud people", while "person" is English /C2 word.
* When articulating "teeth paste" (as one word; that is, continuously, without pause) with/from English /S speaking posture, "toothpaste" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
And when articulating "books burning" (as one word; that is, continuously, without pause) with/from English /S speaking posture, "book-burning" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
It is increasingly regarded as good practice to avoid unnecessary reference to gender. Wherever possible, choose a gender-neutral alternative, for example, camera operator or police officer for words like cameraman or policewoman. Do not use he/him/his/etc. or she/her/etc., to refer to people of unspecified gender, as in ** A child of his age should be able to dress himself. In this example, the best solution is to recast the sentence in the plural: Children of that age should be able to dress themselves. In other cases, they/them/their may be used as gender-neutral singular forms, though many people object to constructions such as ** Each student should proofread their essay. A less controversial but more cumbersome option is he or she/him or her/his or her, as in Each student should proofread his or her essay. See also -ess, -person, and they.
Re: Article of "each-and-every, either/one-of, he-or-she, neither/none/they, 'all (of)', used-up, hopefully, (a)wake(n)" <<Column 15. they>>
* cameraman (camera/T/Ch + s/S/Ch)
And when articulating "cameraman" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /S/Ch/abT speaking posture, "camera operator" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
>> A child of his age should be able to dress himself.
* Children at the age should be able to dress themselves.
When articulating "Children at the age" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/abT speaking posture, "A child of his age" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
And when articulating "themselves" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/abT speaking posture, "himself" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
>> Each student should proofread their essay.
* All the students should proofread their essays.
When articulating "All the students" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/abT speaking posture, "Each student" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
Usage Note: When man and men are used in compounds, such as fireman, firemen, salesman, and salesmen, both -man and -men are usually pronounced (m∂n).
fireman [- m=h ŋ=h hΛh h=n] (fire/T/Ch + s/C2/Ch)
firemen [- m=h hΛh h=n] (fireman/T/Ch + s/S/Ch)
men [m(=e)n] (man/P + s/S);
The etymologically primary sense of man is "human being, person," and that is what it generally meant in Old English: the sexes were usually distinguished by wer "man" (which survives probably in werewolf) and wīf (source of modern English wife) or cwene "woman." But during the Middle English and early modern English periods "male person" gradually became the primary meaning, and today man, meaning "person," is decidedly on the decline (helped on its way by those who feel that the usage discriminates against women).
Usage Note: Traditionally, many writers have used man and words derived from it to designate any or all of the human race regardless of sex. In fact, this is the oldest use of the word. In Old English the principal sense of man was "a human," and the words wer and wyf (or wæpman and wifman) were used to refer to "a male human" and "a female human" respectively. But in Middle English man displaced wer as the term for "a male human," while wyfman (which evolved into present-day woman) was retained for "a female human." Despite this change, man continued to carry its original sense of "a human" as well, resulting in an asymmetrical arrangement that many criticize as sexist.
•Nonetheless, a majority of the Usage Panel still accepts the generic use of man, although the women members have significantly less enthusiasm for this usage than the men do. For example, the sentence If early man suffered from a lack of information, modern man is tyrannized by an excess of it is acceptable to 81 percent of the Panel but a breakdown by sex shows that only 58 percent of the women Panelists accept it, while 92 percent of the men do. A majority of the Panel also accepts compound words derived from generic man. The sentence The Great Wall is the only man-made structure visible from space is acceptable to 86 percent (76 percent of the women and 91 percent of the men). The sentence "The history of language is the history of mankind" (James Bradstreet Greenough and George Lyman Kittredge) is acceptable to 76 percent (63 percent of the women and 82 percent of the men). The Panel finds such compounds less acceptable when applied to women, however; only 66 percent of the Panel members (57 percent of the women and 71 percent of the men) accept the use of the word manpower in the sentence Countries that do not permit women to participate in the work force are at a disadvantage in competing with those that do avail themselves of that extra source of manpower.
•Similar controversy surrounds the generic use of -man compounds to indicate occupational and social roles. Thus the use of chairman in the sentence The chairman will be appointed by the Faculty Senate is acceptable to 67 percent of the Panel (52 percent of the women and 76 percent of the men). Approval rates fall much further, however, for -man compounds applied to women. Only 48 percent (43 percent of the women and 50 percent of the men) accept the use of the word in Emily Owen, chairman of the Mayor's Task Force, issued a statement assuring residents that their views would be solicited. A majority of the Panelists also rejects the verb man when used to refer to an activity performed by women. Fifty-six percent of the Panel (61 percent of the women and 54 percent of the men) disapprove of the sentence Members of the League of Women Voters will be manning the registration desk. See Usage Notes at -ess, men, people, person.
USAGE: The use of words ending in -man is avoided as implying a male in job advertisements, where sexual discrimination is illegal, and in many other contexts where a term that is not gender-specific is available, such as salesperson, barperson, camera operator.
* When articulating "man" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/Ch/abR speaking posture, "human being" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
person/S; human/P; man [m(=Λæ)n]/C2; wer/T;
mistress/S; madam/P; lady/C2; wif/T;
wyf/wife [w(i=a)h hih f=h] (wif/T + s/S);
* wyfman (wif/T + 's/P); husband (wife/T + 's/P)
mankind (man/C2/Ch + 's/P/Ch); manpower (man/S/Ch + s/T/Ch)
woman [w(=u)h mΛn] (man/C2/Ch + s/T/Ch)
* When articulating "male" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /S/Ch/abT speaking posture, "man [m(=æ)n]" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
And when articulating "female" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /S/Ch/abT speaking posture, "woman [w(=Λu)h mΛn]" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
* When articulating "wyfman" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/Ch/abR speaking posture, "wife [ŋ(u=a)h hih f=h]" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
* When articulating "place manpower to" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /S/Ch/abT speaking posture, "man [m(=oæ)n]" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
Usage Note: Many critics have argued that there are sexist connotations in the use of the suffix -ess to indicate a female in words like sculptress, waitress, stewardess, and actress. The heart of the problem lies in the nonparallel use of terms to designate men and women. For example, the -or ending on sculptor seems neutral or unmarked. By comparison, sculptress seems to be marked for gender, implying that the task of sculpting differs as performed by women and men or even that the task should typically be performed by a man. For occupational titles, the use of -ess has been almost completely replaced by recently formed gender-neutral compounds such as flight attendant and letter carrier or by the -er/-or forms. The Usage Panel finds use of the -or suffix to refer to women perfectly acceptable. Ninety-five percent of Panelists approve of sculptor in the sentence The gallery is exhibiting work of sculptor Barbara Hepworth. Sculptress is far less accepted; sixty-five percent reject it in the sentence Georgia O'Keeffe is not as well known as a sculptress as she is as a painter. •A few words ending in -ess, such as goddess and giantess, have long been established in the literature of religion and mythology and are unlikely to be construed as sexist when used in these contexts. See Usage Notes at man, mistress.
The suffix -ess is fast disappearing from the language, with the trend toward avoiding any unnecessary reference to gender. The suffixes -er and -or are not gender-specific in modern English: an author or manager, like a doctor or writer, may be male or female, so the words authoress and manageress are redundant. Some -ess words remain in use, for example, heiress and actress, although actor is increasingly used of both men and women. See also gender-neutral.
* sculptor (sculpture/T + 's/P); sculptress (sculpture/T + s/S)
* waiter (restaurant/T/Ch + 's/P/Ch); waitress (restaurant/T/Ch + s/S/Ch)
* steward (hotel/T + 's/P); stewardess (hotel/T + s/S)
wine steward (wine/C2/Ch + s/S/Ch); shop steward (shop/C2/Ch + s/S/Ch)
* actor (cinema/T/Ch + 's/P/Ch); actress (cinema/T/Ch + s/S/Ch)
* goddess (god/T/Ch + s/C2/Ch); giantess (giant/T/Ch + s/C2/Ch)
Usage Note: English has no shortage of terms for women whose behavior is viewed as licentious, but it is difficult to come up with a list of comparable terms used of men. One researcher, Julia Penelope, stopped counting after she reached 220 such labels for women, both current and historical, but managed to locate only 20 names for promiscuous men. Murial R. Schultz found more than 500 slang terms for prostitute but could find just 65 for the male terms whoremonger and pimp. A further imbalance appears in the connotations of many of these terms. While the terms applying only to women, like tramp and slut, are almost always strongly negative, corresponding terms used for men, such as stud and Casanova, often carry positive associations.
•Curiously, many of the negative terms used for women derive from words that once had neutral or even positive associations. For instance, the word mistress, now mainly used to refer to a woman who is involved in an extramarital sexual relationship, originally served simply as a neutral counterpart to mister or master. The term madam, while still a respectful form of address, has had sexual connotations since the early 1700s and has been used to refer to the owner of a brothel since the early 1900s.
* When articulating "brothel owner" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/Ch/abR speaking posture, "madam [m(=æ) dΛm]/[m(=æ)h h=h d=h ŋ=h hΛh h=m]" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
When articulating "whore" with/from GRECOnglish/GC /P/Ch/abR speaking posture, "mistress [m(ui=) s= t= ri s=]" is metaphthong/MPh pronounced.
mistress [m(i=) s= t= ri s=]/S; madam [m(=æ) d=m]/[m(=æ)h h=h d=h h=m]/P;