April 23, 2015, 20:28
KallehConfidante
Today is Ken's birthday (as well as William Shakespeare's), and I wrote him a message on Facebook. At first I used a word I don't use much ("he is my
confidante") so fortunately I looked it up to be sure it meant what I thought it did. It did not! A confidante is a woman?
April 23, 2015, 23:02
tinmanWow, Ken and Will born on the same day! And Ken looks so much younger!
Try
confidant, rather than
confidante.
Happy birthday, Ken. And many more.
April 24, 2015, 02:05
arnieA lot of words from the French change their endings depending on gender - both nouns and adjectives. As well as
confidant/confidante,
beau/belle came up recently in another thread.
Blond/blonde is also common, although I've noticed that, in some American writing at least, the distinction seems to be disappearing, with
blond used for both sexes.
April 24, 2015, 19:50
KallehInteresting. I had no idea there were two ways of spelling it. You are right; when I look it up spelled that way, it says "one to whom secrets are entrusted."
April 26, 2015, 11:26
<Proofreader>Bruce Jenner announced he now considers himself a woman. Which made me wonder at what point in the process do you begin to use the feminine pronoun to describe yourself and what pronoun do you use when you are not quite either gender?
April 27, 2015, 01:46
arnieI think usually the individual lets it be known which pronoun they would prefer. It's their choice.
April 29, 2015, 20:17
KallehI have been thinking about this, and since we speak English and not French, it doesn't really make sense to me that there are two spellings for the word.
April 30, 2015, 01:44
arnieBut if you are using a French word it makes sense to follow the French conventions. Some words, however, have been fully assimilated into English and use English spelling rules. The question is - how far has the process gone?
Usually, but not always, the masculine version of the word is the one adopted into English. In the case of
confidant/confidante I don't think anyone would have raised an eyebrow if you were to refer a a female friend as a confidant, but to refer to Shu as a confidante would be odd. Similarly, any fair-headed person could be called blond, but a blonde would normally only refer to a woman or girl.
April 30, 2015, 05:58
goofyAccording to the OED, blond is most common in the US, and blonde is most common in the UK. There are Middle English citations where it is spelled with e and refers to a man.
April 30, 2015, 12:11
<Proofreader>quote:
There are Middle English citations where it is spelled with e and refers to a man. Posts: 2001
Obviously written by a blonde.
April 30, 2015, 20:12
KallehI only use blonde, for both sexes. I've never used blond. Does anyone here?