Re: Vocab #5

At 10:42 AM 4/27/2002 -0400, you wrote:
>Christian Thalmann scripsit:
>
> > I've never seen the name Christian (without trailing -e or -a) being
> > used in a female sense, though I keep hearing that it exists in the
> > US.  Weird.
>
>The default female interpretation is so strong that it is probably only
>people who know some foreigners (itself not a particularly common
>trait) who are aware that it could be otherwise.
>
>Oh yes, and there's Hans Christian Andersen, or is it -son?

    I totally disagree. I don't know _anyone_ who automatically assumes
Christian to be a female. It's certainly NOT the default. I hope you just
had a typo, otherwise I'm confused about which country I live in.

   Aidan