Re: CHAT: Epicene man (was Re: ...y'know)

Ed Heil scripsit:

> Speaking of 'man' and vocatives and all that, I was always amused by
> Willard Espy's claim that 'mac' is the vocative of 'guy.'  You talk
> about 'that guy' but when you speak to him you say 'hey, Mac!'
Reminds me of Frederic Brown's Martians (in _Martians, Go Home_) who
insisted on addressing all human males (in English-speaking countries,
at least) as "Mack" and all females as "Toots".

--
John Cowan                                   cowan@ccil.org
       I am a member of a civilization. --David Brin