Subj : Cough...  1.
To   : alexander koryagin
From : Ardith Hinton
Date : Thu Sep 28 2017 23:46:09

Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

 ak>  I couldn't find it again,


           Not to worry.  I was just wondering what's going on in England these 
days... especially after Prince William said "me and Catherine".  :-)



 ak>  but an article on the issue '"him," "her" or "their."'
 ak>  is here:
 ak>  http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/02/heres-a-
 ak>  list-of-58-gender-options-for-facebook-users/


           The mind fair boggles....  8-)



 ak>  In Russia "girl" is fully acceptable addressing to any
 ak>  a not very old female shop-assistant. IMHO, an old woman
 ak>  feels herself being flattered. ;)


           In this part of the world an older woman might feel flattered if she 
thought you'd underestimated her age.  However, a younger woman might be amused 
or insulted if she thought you'd done the same... [chuckle].

           From a historical POV, people have often been referred to as "lads & 
lasses" or "boy & girls" until their mid-twenties at least... particularly when 
they were as yet unmarried... but nowadays many women Over Here feel frustrated 
if it seems they may be doomed to a life of servitude in the pink collar ghetto 
because they're not recognized as individuals.  I had a taste of that during my 
employment as a waitress, when for every male customer who remembered my name & 
appreciated my work there would be one who called me "Mary".  The vast majority 
of these guys were middle-aged whereas my co-worker Mary & I were both about 22 
years old at the time.  Since then, however, a lot of things have changed.

           When I was younger there were delivery boys, paper boys, stock boys, 
bag boys, stock boys... and in the restaurant business, bus boys (or girls) who 
cleared tables but hadn't worked their way up to waiting on customers.  You got 
me thinking about who these people were & where they went.  I reckon many would 
have been high school students or dropouts or recent graduates.  These days the 
delivery boy may be a man in his seventies who's doing his best to supplement a 
meagre pension & the paper boy may be a middle-aged man from SomePlace Else who 
can't get a better job until he improves his English.  I wouldn't refer to such 
people as boys, and I understand that sometimes adult males in the US object to 
being addressed that way because to them it is reminiscent of slavery.  Younger 
folk still have jobs, of course... but you'd be more likely to see them working 
in coffee shops & fast food eateries if they have their sights set on something 
else.  I'm reminded of the comment I read, in an account of the medieval period 
in England, where the author points out that if these people sounded young they 
probably were because the life expectancy in those days was 30.  My mother also 
made me aware that during the mid-twentieth century womem were expected to stay 
at home & raise children once they were married.  If the paper boy or the girls 
in the steno pool sounded young in those days, most of them probably were.  :-)



 ak>  Now in Russia we have a new jargon -- we can call a
 ak>  woman (when she doesn't hear it) with a funny sounding
 ak>  word used by small children (aunty - tetenka). I can
 ak>  say to my college,


           I think you mean "colleague"....



 ak>  "A some tetenka called you 5 minutes ago -- she wanted
 ak>  you to call on the market department." ;)


           I'd say "some [blah blah]", without the article, but since you don't 
want her to overhear your description of her I recognize the type of person you 
are referring to... I think.  I could tell stories about people of both genders 
who behave in a similar manner.  I want to hear what you have to say about them 
first, though.  I've rambled on more than enough & you need the practice.  :-))




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

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