Re: Semantic Content of Grammatical Gender?

Den 31. jan. 2009 kl. 23.13 skrev Chris Peters:
>
> One other example I've heard about this (which may be an urban
> legend, so please correct me if my understanding is in error):  "El
> Presidente" in Spanish means "The President, while the feminine
> equivalent, "La Presidente", means literally "The First Lady."  And
> this fact (??) led to some interesting linguistic dilemmas when
> various South American countries started electing their first women
> heads of state ...
I think I have heard the US first lady called "Mrs. President" or
some such thing. Formerly, it seems to have been a tradition in the
US of marrying not only into your husband's last name, but also into
his title. I have seen some things like this in old British
literature, too. But I guess this stuff is bygone now, isn't it?

LEF