Here's a letter to the editor

[conuly]

claiming that there is nothing sexist with the phrase "manned" tables (spacecraft, vehicles, etc) because in this case "manned" comes from Latin manus, so there.

First of all, that etymology is false. False, false, false. Man (v) comes from man (n) in exactly the path we all imagine. And I know, because unlike this person, I actually bothered to look it up.

Secondly, it doesn't freaking matter. "Manning" a table certainly sounds like it might be sexist, we have an easy substitute in the words "staffing" or "working", and that's good enough reason to switch.

I'm strongly tempted to write my own letter to the editor rebutting this letter to the editor, which of course itself is a rebuttal.

Comments

[moon_custafer]

I just thought of something – there’s an old slang phrase, to “give [some guy] the mitten,” meaning to break up with him; I wonder if this started as a macaronic on manumit? Word Detective (http://www.word-detective.com/092205.html - scroll down) thinks it’s a macaronic on “mittimus” but according to them that means “arrest warrant” and I think “manumit,” since it means to set someone free, makes more sense as a jokey allusion to ending a relationship.