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Yes. Words change meanings over time/society. Why are you debating etymology? Patronize no longer has a gendered meaning. You would ask a women whether or not s
by jimmywanger 10y ago
Yes. Words change meanings over time/society. Why are you debating etymology? Patronize no longer has a gendered meaning. You would ask a women whether or not she patronized a store, for instance.
If you're a small business owner, you'd equally thank a woman or a man for their patronage, or yell at them equally for them to stop patronizing your employees.
- tptacek 10y agoThe word has two meanings, and the one you invoke in your latter example is gendered. You would be yelling at your women customers for talking down to your employees as if from a father to a child. Which is fine; women can act like obnoxious men, too. Not only is Latin mostly gendered and the Latin root of this word clearly male, but the female root "matron" is also a common root for English words.
- mzw_mzw 10y ago>The word has two meanings, and the one you invoke in your latter example is gendered. Oh, tptacek, maybe you need to go outside and get some air. You really think that people are leafing through unabridged Latin dictionaries looking for ways to be subtly sexist?
- tptacek 10y agoNo, that is not at all what I am saying. I am not criticizing the word "patronizing".