Re: Pet Peeves

[Amy Gale <amyg -at- grammatech -dot- com>]

Al Geist wrote:

>     Amy Gale wrote:
>
>     "I find "male" and "female"...not offensive, I guess, but definitely
>     kind of tacky - industry standard or not."
>
>Hi Amy,
>
>I don't understand why you find the terms "male" and "female" tacky. It's a
>universal way to describing how one device is connected to another, be that
>device a cable into circuit board, or a spark plug into a car engine (male
>and female threads).
>  
>

Because there's really nothing male or female about them. It's an 
inaccurate metaphor that reads like it was invented by a bunch of 13 
year old boys for a "joke".

>Thus if we follow Apple's logic, we can "Plug the ribbon connector's plug
>into the motherboard socket J1."
>
>If you find "male" and "female" uncomfortable, wouldn't the above be just as
>uncomfortable?
>
(NB I don't find "male" and "female" uncomfortable, just stupid.)

The above sentence clearly describes a task to be performed. If you used 
"male" and "female":
- would it be more concise?
- would a professional audience find it clearer and/or more "correct"?
- would a lay audience find it less clear and/or more jargon-ish?


I should reiterate for the record that I am under no illusions that this 
terminology is going away any time soon, that it barely comes to my 
notice (hardware is for Other People), and that my reaction is brief 
disdain rather than sustained offence.

Amy
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