"Blonde" vs. "blond"?

Lenona

unread,

Nov 19, 2009, 3:05:58 PM11/19/09

to

I realize "blonde" is feminine. I have the impression, though, you
can't say "blonde hair" only "a blonde woman" or "a blonde." Am I
wrong?

Lenona.

Garrett Wollman

unread,

Nov 19, 2009, 5:08:08 PM11/19/09

to

In article <0732731a-22ea-446b...@j11g2000vbi.googlegroups.com>,
Lenona <leno...@yahoo.com> wrote:

So many people no longer make a gender distinction that it is
difficult to support a claim that one form or the other is correct.
If you do still observe this distinction, the usual word for "hair" in
French is masculine plural, but I would not be surprised to see
English-speakers use agree-with-owner-of-hair in preference to
agree-with-French-gender-of-hair. So do what you like.

-GAWollman
--
Garrett A. Wollman | What intellectual phenomenon can be older, or more oft
wol...@bimajority.org| repeated, than the story of a large research program
Opinions not shared by| that impaled itself upon a false central assumption
my employers. | accepted by all practitioners? - S.J. Gould, 1993

Cheryl

unread,

Nov 20, 2009, 5:48:15 AM11/20/09

to

You can say 'blonde' anything, pretty well, although I was taught as a
child to use 'blond man/boy' (and 'brunet man/boy', which is pretty well
forgotten today).

But in my opinion, any inanimate object can be 'blonde' - hair, wig etc.
You even hear about blonde wood.

--
Cheryl

Cece

unread,

Nov 20, 2009, 2:48:16 PM11/20/09

to

I grew up seeing only "blond." The distinction between blond and
blonde came later, about the time American secondary schools stopped
offering foreign languages. I don't know that it ever took complete
hold. And it's gone again already?

Joe Fineman

unread,

Nov 20, 2009, 6:11:57 PM11/20/09

to

Lenona <leno...@yahoo.com> writes:

The AHD gives "blonde" as a mere spelling variant of "blond", and the
OED, the other way around. In my childhood, however (U.S., 1940s),
the received usage IIRC was that "blond" was the adjective and was
also the noun for a blond man, whereas "blonde" was the noun for a
blond woman. If so, that was pretty silly. By now, to me, "blonde"
has something of a vulgar air about it, suggesting "dumb blonde"
jokes. All the more reason to be rid of it.
--
--- Joe Fineman jo...@verizon.net

||: Nothing at the beginning, nothing at the end -- how can I :||
||: lose? :||

Prai Jei

unread,

Nov 23, 2009, 11:50:54 AM11/23/09

to

Joe Fineman set the following eddies spiralling through the space-time
continuum:

> By now, to me, "blonde" has something of a vulgar air about it,
> suggesting "dumb blonde" jokes. All the more reason to be rid of it.

I was blond as a kid (check out
http://alt-usage-english.org/AUE_gallery/paul_townsend.html) and was (and
still am) highly intelligent so I have personal reasons to abhor the
stereotype.
--
ξ:) Proud to be curly

Interchange the alphabetic letter groups to reply

Steve Hayes

unread,

Nov 23, 2009, 1:10:47 PM11/23/09

to

On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:50:54 +0000, Prai Jei
<pvstownse...@ntlworld.com> wrote:

>I was blond as a kid (check out
>http://alt-usage-english.org/AUE_gallery/paul_townsend.html) and was (and
>still am) highly intelligent so I have personal reasons to abhor the
>stereotype.

I see what you mean about "proud to be curly"

--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Prai Jei

unread,

Nov 25, 2009, 2:21:41 PM11/25/09

to

Steve Hayes set the following eddies spiralling through the space-time
continuum:

> On Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:50:54 +0000, Prai Jei

> <pvstownse...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
>>I was blond as a kid (check out
>>http://alt-usage-english.org/AUE_gallery/paul_townsend.html) and was (and
>>still am) highly intelligent so I have personal reasons to abhor the
>>stereotype.
>
> I see what you mean about "proud to be curly"

Yes, that's me. And it's all natural.