Fw: English Noun Genders

[nuriaobradors]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Amanda" <editor at t...> wrote:
> I just got this from an old friend...
> > >From the Washington Post Style Invitation, in which it was 
postulated> that English should have male and female nouns, and 
readers were asked to assign a gender to a noun of their choice and 
>>explain their reason.> The best submissions:

Funny enough, quite a few of the proposed genders are equivalent to 
those of Spanish (where all nouns have gender)


> > ZIPLOC BAGS - male Hmmm... bags are feminine (bolsas) in Spanish, 
but IIRC I've some time heard masculine when referring to Ziploc 
specifically

> > SWISS ARMY KNIFE - male, Though knife is Male in Spanish too, at 
least in my country Swiss Army knifes are referred to in feminine, 
because we use the fem. word "navaja" (pocketknife) to name them.

> > KIDNEYS - female, Nope. Male in Spanish. ("riñón", pl. "riñones")

> > SHOE - male, Male in Spanish too! ("zapato")

> > COPIER - female, and so in Spanish! ("copiadora")

> > TIRE - male, and so in spanish ("neumático"), though sometimes we 
also use the fem. word "goma" (rubber) to refer to it.

> > HOT AIR BALLOON - male, Male in Spanish too! ("globo aerostático")

> > SPONGES - female, and so in Spanish! ("esponjas")

> > WEB PAGE - female, and so in Spanish! ("página web" - we don't  
translate "web")

> > SUBWAY - male, and so in Spanish! ("subte", short 
for "subterráneo" in Argentina, "metro" everywhere else)

> > HOURGLASS - female, but male in Spanish. We call it "reloj de 
arena" ("sand clock"), and "reloj" ("clock") is male.

> > HAMMER - male, and so in Spanish! ("martillo") But "maza" (sledge 
hammer) is female

> > REMOTE CONTROL - female... Male in Spanish. ("control remoto")

Hope you like it!

Nuri