EXTRA CREDIT
From Thursday's WSJ:The financial-services committee on which Ms. Waters sits oversees banking issues, and the lawmaker is a potential future chairman.It is Ms. Waters, so shouldn't it be chairwoman? The AP Stylebook lists both chairman and chairwoman, so I think that is a yes, thought maybe the WSJ has a house style. I personally like chairperson, as I feel the sex of the chair- or spokes- or whoever-, is irrelevant. After all, we have switched to firefighter instead of adding firewoman, police officer instead of adding policewoman, and postal worker or letter carrier (the AP's suggestions) instead of adding either postwoman or mailwoman. When chairs are involved, however, AP vetoes that option. "Do not use chairperson unless it is an organization's formal title for an office." I do grant that chairperson is a clunker, but when did you last ask 'Has the postal worker come yet?'?
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Agreed. I prefer chairwoman to chairman, and chairperson to both of those. It's too bad we don't have a less cumbersome unisex word. I also especially like cases like police officer and firefighter, where the second word continues to describe the post instead of the sex. And I actually hear letter carrier a fair amount.
ReplyDeleteThere are limits, though. I'm never going to say would you please person the phones, or womanslaughter.