why (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/memes@sopuli.xyz
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 63 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (8 children)

Mark Twain also struggled with language

To continue with the German genders: a tree is male, its buds are female, its leaves are neuter; horses are sexless, dogs are male, cats are female—tomcats included, of course; a person's mouth, neck, bosom, elbows, fingers, nails, feet, and body are of the male sex, and his head is male or neuter according to the word selected to signify it, and NOT according to the sex of the individual who wears it—for in Germany all the women wear either male heads or sexless ones; a person's nose, lips, shoulders, breast, hands, and toes are of the female sex; and his hair, ears, eyes, chin, legs, knees, heart, and conscience haven't any sex at all. The inventor of the language probably got what he knew about a conscience from hearsay.

  • source
  • hideshow 8 child comments
  • [–] 9 points 9 months ago* (7 children)

    Dogs are male? In my language dogs are female. So I guess there is no standard for gendered language.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
  • [–] 27 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    It is said that when English went from old English (which was gendered) to modern English, part of the problem was that the genders of the Germanic roots didn’t match the genders of the French influences so the people chose to just skip it all together.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 9 points 9 months ago (3 children)

    Dunno about German but in french dogs are male or female depending on their actual gender (obviously the female word has been adopted as a slur towards women, to be fair sometimes the masculine also is used that way for men).

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 7 points 9 months ago

    In German, dogs are male by default (der Hund can be used as a generic term for both male and female dogs), but bitches are female (die Hündin). Cats are female by default (die Katze), but tomcats are male (der Kater).

    We do not use Hündin as a slur for women, but Hund can be used as a slur for men.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago

    The male word is also used as slur for men in Québec. It's usually accompanied by copious religious profanity and a few tasteful adjectives.

    • C'est un ostie de câlisse de chien sale à marde, Tabarnak!
  • source
  • parent