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In the German it is true that by some oversight of the inventor of the language, a Woman is a female; but a Wife (Weib) is not -- which is unfortunate. A Wife, here, has no sex; she is neuter; so, according to the grammar, a fish is he, his scales are she, but a fishwife is neither. To describe a wife as sexless may be called under-description;

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(or redundant in some cases)

Does this take the edge off of the argument "Marriages have historically been between a man--the husband, and a woman--the wife?"

Probably not, but it may be worth a chuckle.
 

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Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
 

 

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Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
 
<chuckles>
 

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Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 

 

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Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
 
WOW! A thread with "Gay Marriage" in the title that didn't go to 15 pages. This is historic.
 

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Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
 
Give it time, Dan_Raven LOL
 

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Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
 

 

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Posted by Fyfe (Member # 937) on :
 
*does her bit to help thread reach fifteen pages*
 

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Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
 
In German, "girl" is neuter too... Now I wonder how do they explain that?! Btw, in Romanian every noun has a sex too, also male, female or neuter, exactly like in German. Fortunately - or not, I guess it depends on your views on the issue - "wife" is female, and "husband" is male. Also, all girls are female...

The most confusing thing is when you get a noun that's feminine in Romanian, masculine in French and neuter in German, or something else like that. ("book" fits the description) Good luck with remembering it all!
 

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