Letter - Other participant would be Republicanic
Some words seem to have a short life. Some words actually lose their initial meaning. Take the word “congressman.”
To the editor:
Some words seem to have a short life. Some words actually lose their initial meaning.
Take the word “congressman.” In its current usage, a congressman is a representative, as opposed to a senator. Example: Congressman Collin Peterson.
The United States Congress is composed of two chambers. One is the Senate. The other is the House of Representatives. Anyone who is a member of Congress is a congressman. Senator Klobuchar is a congressman, because she’s a member of Congress.
Congressman is a non-sexist word, just as manhole cover and mankind are non-sexist. If ultras had their way, we should write personhole cover and personkind.
Take the misuse of number and letter. The firm Ordune runs an ad on TV that includes the number 340-6318. A voice says: “Call three-four-oh-six-three-one-eight.” But, oh is not a number. Oh is the 15th letter of the English alphabet. If the ad is referring to a number, the voice should say, “three-four-zero.”
Take the word “democratic.” It is often misused to refer to a political party. Democratic is an adjective, which means “belonging to, or upholding democracy.”
Democracy is “a government in which people hold the ruling power.”
To refer to one as a Democratic would require us to use the other political party participant as Republicanic.
Dick Grenell
Brandon, MN
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