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Actor / Actress / ?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by Secrets5, Nov 10, 2015.

  1. Secrets5

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    Hello,

    Does anybody know the gender neutral form of things such as 'actor/actress'? I know for things like 'postman', 'postwoman' you have 'post-officer' but for things that have the gender already embedded 'or, ress' in the word with no gender 'man, woman' to take out?

    Thank-you.
     
  2. Kodo

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    "Actor" is considered to be neutral.

    Just like "waiter," you don't always have to specify "waitress" unless you want to since the original is an accepted neutral form.
     
  3. Aussie792

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    Most nouns that refer to people technically don't have a neutral form. English hasn't had a reform to standardise gender in nouns, but the masculine usually takes precedence. So "she is an actor" can be correct in common usage, but "he is an actress" would not be correct. Some words' feminine forms have been outmoded and are consequently more neutral in practice; "ambassador" is virtually always preferred, despite the existence of the word "ambassadress".

    When in doubt, the masculine form will usually suffice, apart from a few select words like "widow/er". It's not strictly a neutral form, but it's the closest available for most words.
     
  4. ForNarnia

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    It's actor for everyone :slight_smile: It's one of those where you don't need to specify male or female unless you want to
     
  5. CJliving

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    In fact, a lot of female actors will silently kill you/box your ears if you call them 'actress' these days. Any time my sister's been called an actress she smiles really sweetly with death eyes and says "actor" in a voice that clearly says "they will never find what's left of you". XD