The other day, I ran across a word that drives me nuts: herstory. In the opinion of some, the subject of history derives from the English pronoun his and is thus hurtful to half the population.
This, of course, is nonsense. The word history comes from the ancient Greek historia. It meant a method of knowing. The word itself is grammatically feminine, as were the terms for the arts and sciences generally. It certainly has no relationship with English pronouns that are of Germanic origin.
Cuteness in thinking never resolves any problem and is best to be avoided. May Clio save you from such lapses.
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