I don't know who needs to hear this but the word for a man who gives massages is....

[redgarters]

I'm sorry, I thought it was clear. She was presenting as a woman, but turned out to be a man transitioning to a woman.

Yup, she was a trans woman. Masseuse.
I thought it was clear in the original post (TG=Trans Girl).

 

[TheLobster]

What's arbitrary is that it's gendered, when almost zero% of English adjectives are gendered.

I'm reasonably sure that exactly zero English adjectives are gendered.

Yes, some nouns might be, and grammatical gender surfaces in the language in other manners (e.g. 'she' being used for countries or vessels). But I've never heard about the need of keeping a noun/pronoun's "gender" in concordance with a particular "gendered" form of an adjective, because again, I'm quite sure the latter is not a thing. Red is always red.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Similarly, a man with light-coloured hair is blond or, if you must, 'a blond'. He is definitely not a blonde!

(Authors of Daniel Craig-era James Bond fanfic, take note. Please?)

Yes, this does mean a guy with brown hair is technically a brunet, but that doesn't mean you have to use the word. Brunette is dated enough. And 'noirette' is a word I've never seen outside bad fanfic.

Does my head in when Americans write about "blond women." Wait, what, fucckkk!!! That's so wrong.

 

[redgarters]

Interestingly, if I understand it correctly, in the French form you might say un masseureuse if you are refering to a non-binary person giving the massage, don't know the person's gender or want to use gender neutral language for some other reason.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Does my head in when Americans write about "blond women." Wait, what, fucckkk!!! That's so wrong.

...

Ok, this is it. I'm done. I'm no longer writing anymore.

From this point onwards I will learn and speak only Silbo Gomero, because I don't want to do this anymore.

I'm removing my stories, deleting my backups, burning my notebooks, formatting my hard drive, and USB drives.

 

[Britva415]

I'm reasonably sure that exactly zero English adjectives are gendered.

But blond/blonde are English. And they’re gendered, and they are supposed to be concordant with the subject.

 

[Britva415]

Interestingly, if I understand it correctly, in the French form you might say un masseureuse if you are refering to a non-binary person giving the massage, don't know the person's gender or want to use gender neutral language for some other reason.

What if I identify as a “masseuseur?”

Or a “masseux”

 

[redgarters]

What if I identify as a “masseuseur?”

Or a “masseux”

Personally, I think both could work. Not sure how the Académie française would see it.

 

[ConsiderateBeast]

I don't think that would ever work in French; if you want to do that I'd recommend sticking with masseur and using la. People slur over the endings in speech anyway.

 

[TheLobster]

But blond/blonde are English. And they’re gendered, and they are supposed to be concordant with the subject.

I’m confused now. I thought blond/blonde are the nouns, and that the adjective is always blond. This is how I’ve always been writing, say, “blond girl” as opposed to “she was a blonde.”

Is this not the case?

 

[YmaOHyd]

I’m confused now. I thought blond/blonde are the nouns, and that the adjective is always blond. This is how I’ve always been writing, say, “blond girl” as opposed to “she was a blonde.”

Is this not the case?

Traditional usage is that blond goes with masculine and blonde goes with feminine and, I think, non-gendered nouns in English. Blond man, blonde woman, blonde roast, blonde ale. Modern usage seems to be more and more towards blond/blonde as nouns and blond as the uniform adjective.

 

[TheLobster]

Traditional usage is that blond goes with masculine and blonde goes with feminine and, I think, non-gendered nouns in English. Blond man, blonde woman, blonde roast, blonde ale. Modern usage seems to be more and more towards blond/blonde as nouns and blond as the uniform adjective.

Thanks, that makes sense. I didn’t know that English therefore has some vestigial gender concordance, even if gender is barely recognized as a concept outside of pronouns. Neat!

 

[ElectricBlue]

I’m confused now. I thought blond/blonde are the nouns, and that the adjective is always blond. This is how I’ve always been writing, say, “blond girl” as opposed to “she was a blonde.”

Is this not the case?

Not in English English, and by extension, Australian English. Here, a woman is blonde, a man is blond; that's it, regardless of adjective or noun.

It's always a huh? for me, when I see "blond woman" written down. It's one of those weird things - like butt. It might be just me, but that always makes me think of Beavis and Butthead, hyuck, hyuck. It's the, "We're not American" divide, a cultural difference, is all.

 

[Writer61]

Thanks, that makes sense. I didn’t know that English therefore has some vestigial gender concordance, even if gender is barely recognized as a concept outside of pronouns. Neat!

I blame the Normans.

 

[YmaOHyd]

I blame the Normans.

Many things are their fault. That's why we call him William the Bastard!

 

[Bramblethorn]

Not in English English, and by extension, Australian English. Here, a woman is blonde, a man is blond; that's it, regardless of adjective or noun.

Macquarie Dictionary, the closest thing to an official Australian English dictionary, treats "blond" as unisex although noting that the noun form is more often used for male. It treats "blonde" (both adjective and noun) as specifically female*.

Accompanying usage note: "...Since English does not mark gender on adjectives, there is no reason why blond should not be used for both female and male reference, but many people do use the form blonde, especially when referring to a woman with blonde hair."

Not quite what I'd thought, but that's what it says.

*or when describing beer. What this says about the Australian attitude to beer is left as an exercise for the reader.

 

[ElectricBlue]

*or when describing beer. What this says about the Australian attitude to beer is left as an exercise for the reader.

Oz blonde beers (nearly all are craft beers) seem to be mostly blonde, not blond.

I can only attribute that to, "Nice beer. Goes down well." Something like that, anyway.

 

[Writer61]

Macquarie Dictionary, the closest thing to an official Australian English dictionary, treats "blond" as unisex although noting that the noun form is more often used for male. It treats "blonde" (both adjective and noun) as specifically female*.

Accompanying usage note: "...Since English does not mark gender on adjectives, there is no reason why blond should not be used for both female and male reference, but many people do use the form blonde, especially when referring to a woman with blonde hair."

Not quite what I'd thought, but that's what it says.

*or when describing beer. What this says about the Australian attitude to beer is left as an exercise for the reader.

Well, 'strine has many interesting diversions from the mother tongue. No wokkas.

 

[Writer61]

What this says about the Australian attitude to beer is left as an exercise for the reader.

qv David Boon on the flight from Oz to the UK.

 

[YmaOHyd]

Oz blonde beers (nearly all are craft beers) seem to be mostly blonde, not blond.

I can only attribute that to, "Nice beer. Goes down well." Something like that, anyway.

I think that's inherited from English English, as it's the same in American English. For example -- Starbucks sells blonde roast, not blond roast. Allagash and Shiner both sell blonde ales, not blond ales. Ships are traditionally referred to as feminine in English ("may God bless her and all who sail in her"), and there have been British ships called Blonde, but none called Blond. An HMS Blonde nearly introduced coffee to Hawai'i in the early 1800s, but the plants all died.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Oz blonde beers (nearly all are craft beers) seem to be mostly blonde, not blond.

I can only attribute that to, "Nice beer. Goes down well." Something like that, anyway.

According to Macquarie, beers are blonde but furniture and wood are blond.

 

[iwatchus]

According to Macquarie, beers are blonde but furniture and wood are blond.

I guess wood is supposed to be manly, but men don't want to think they are sucking down something masculine.

 

[ConsiderateBeast]

It's following the French. La biére.

 

[iwatchus]

It's following the French. La biére.

And wood and furniture are both masculine (I just had to check. My French is rusty)

So I guess the French are the homophobes in this case, which is not shocking.

 

[Britva415]

Personally, I think both could work. Not sure how the Académie française would see it.

But they like "masseureuse?"