Best Word Book Ever - Jet Plane

No longer Handsome below

No longer Pretty below

Handler, please. Not "man".

Best Word Book Ever - Jet Plane by kokogiak.

(1963 on top, 1991 on bottom)

No longer the Handsome Pilot.

Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever, 1963 vs 1991 editions (with revisions). The 1963 edition is my own, bought for me in the late 60's when I was a toddler, and read to tatters. The 1991 edition belongs to my kids today. I was so familar with the older one that I immediately started noticing a few differences, and so have catalogued 10 of the more interesting differences here in this collection.

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Comments

platypi says:

cripes! the completely arbitrary use of "handsome" and "pretty" is hilarious.
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

Hatchibombotar says:

Not only is she no longer "pretty," but she's now a "flight attendant" rather than a stewardess. Growing up as the son of a commercial airline pilot, I was the only person I knew who said "flight attendant."
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

The Eggplant says:

Interesting how language has changed over time.
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

vanoakenfold says:

I'm lost on how stewardess became poor use.. a steward is someone responsible for proper care, who is given authority over something because of the reputation of trust they've built, with -ess referring to the female variety. A flight attendant is just someone who happens to be there -- it's less impressive.
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

The Eggplant says:

vanoakenfold: Part of it has to do with "political correctness" and the way culture has changed over time.
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

Minus says:

Adding "ess" to the end of a word is seen as a diminutive. E. g. many female actors dislike being called "actresses" for the same reason. In a situation where there really is no reason to distinguish between men and women, "flight attendant" is a comfortable way around the problem.
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

Legerdemain1970 says:

Couldn't *removing* the "ess" from the end of the word also be seen as a diminutive from a certain viewpoint? By being so politically correct, what you're saying is that you really think that women aren't as good as men, so pointing it out makes them feel worse.

Sorry, but I speak Portuguese, and many of out words are similarly different for male and females roles and I've never seen it as a problem. I guess my whole language must be politically incorrect.
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

hungrydog says:

And the pilot definitely wasn't handsome, so that was a good amendment. Perhaps the word should have been replaced by one more fitting in the modern world. Like arrogant...
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

Minus says:

No, removing the "ess" is not seen as a diminutive. This is the real world and the way people realy feel about themselves. Next time you are on an airplane why don't you ask the flight attendant what he or she thinks?
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

Treehugger says:

Legerdemain1970, English has no masculine or feminine words (at least technically, such as in romance languages). That's not to say we don't create masculine and feminine terms, but these days it's seen as sexist or politically incorrect by some to highlight the gender separation.

I personally don't care, and I kind of like the -ess on the end of some words. But some women think that specifying gender in a term, especially when it has to do with their job, is demeaning. I think the point is that they don't want to be categorized as different from men, but instead they want to make the point that they are just as capable.
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

Wade Rockett says:

Scarry's use of adjectives like "handsome" and "pretty" delighted me. I think it's because they created a character with one simple stroke. "Handsome pilot" is charming, adding a non-job related personal trait to the, um...bear? Whereas "pilot" is nothing but a job description.
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

internal says:

Hmmm. No more cockpit.
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

Man or Monster? says:

Well, they're both 28 years older now, so they're not "handsome" and "pretty" anymore.
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

illskematiks says:

Something I wish these books had when I was a kid, was more definitions describing front; back/ nose;tail/ aft;stern;portside..etc. I think you understand. I always pretended I knew what people were talking about when they used these words.
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

smackfu says:

Notice the label "jet military plane". I'm surprised they didn't change that one. No one would say that.
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

missmookus says:

He's still handsome in Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever (1995), p. 177. Thanks for pointing out the differences, though -- I have the Best Word Book Ever and hadn't noticed the modifications. I did remember the pretty and handsome though and had to go searching through our books to find them.
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

Isabelle T says:

To be completely accurate in this day and age, it should have been changed to "drunk pilot".
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

luciferase says:

OMG! The front landing gear is backwards. The 1963 book foretold the future.
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

Jerrie says:

This whole series is such a wonderful commentary on our times and how things change. Can't wait until another 20 years pass to see what we find embarrassing about our current way of naming things. Thanks for this.
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

leto_x_atreides says:

Tree hugger, as you said, it's extremely common in Romance languages, such as French, to categorize words as male or female. In french, car is a female word. Like wise, the words for people's jobs and descriptions change depending on their sex. I really don't see this as a diminutive thing- I see it more as an adjective. It helps to clarify details of a story or sentence.
Posted 49 months ago. ( permalink )

cetaylor says:

As smackfu says, "jet military plane" is just poor grammar in any age.

They didn't really do a whole lot to modernize this image. If the publisher had bothered to consult anybody actually in the industry, they might have thought about replacing "cockpit" with "flight deck", and "tail" with "vertical stabilizer".

Not to mention removing the wire connecting the fuselage with the vertical stab. In very early piston-engine planes these were wires to control the rudder, and in later jet aircraft they were usually radio antennas.

In either case, external wires are certainly an anachronism on 1991-vintage heavy commercial aircraft.
Posted 48 months ago. ( permalink )

vanderwal says:

Good to see the passengers are still getting loaded.
Posted 48 months ago. ( permalink )

brianjb says:

... yet somehow the words "military" and "cockpit" slipped through. Strange.
Posted 48 months ago. ( permalink )

tannie annie says:

how neat!
Posted 48 months ago. ( permalink )

LordBuckley says:

"Actress" is actually a corruption/abbreviation of "actress". "Actor" denotes either the gender-neutral notion of someone who acts, or a male actor, whereas "act(o)ress" denotes a female actor. As such the implication is that an "actress" is differentiated from someone who simply acts by being female - almost as though their womanhood qualifies their acting in some way. This is not the case for men. It's very much in the same vein as "football" and "women's football", except that in this instance the skill difference is real and therefore the differentiation is arguable not demeaning, simply realistic.

Make sense?
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

tuppence1 says:

If its demeaning to specify a gender in a term such as a job, then to mention gender at all anywhere could potentially offend someone, somewhere. 'Mommy' could be offensive as its gender specific. (perhaps "Non gender specific guardian" should be used instead.)

Also, to believe that adding 'ess' could be seen as derogatory (and thus removing it) implies that adding 'ess' automatically makes that person (ie a female) worse at that job, which is, in itself, sexist and loaded with dated preconceptions.

I'm offended by people who find things offensive for little or no reason. Can I get them banned?
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

DangerWaffle says:

The problem with "stewardess" is that since the job is most often performed by women, it became the default word for anyone with that job - and no man is going to apply for a job as a "stewardess," so it ends up implying that the whole job is women's work. "Flight attendant" is a useful alternative, because "steward or stewardess" is awkward to say all the time.

And once we had the gender-neutral word, there was really no reason to use the gendered version, because male and female flight attendants do precisely the same thing. In careers where men and women actually do have different roles, almost nobody complains about making a distinction. Hence we still have "actor" and "actress," because few directors are going to cast an actress as Hamlet, or a male actor as Juliet. Similarly, the reason nobody has a problem with "mommy" and "daddy" is that it's a useful distinction - even the most feminist daddies don't get pregnant or lactate. And nevertheless, we do have not one but two perfectly useful words for "non gender specific guardian:" "guardian" itself and "parent."
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

mcjake says:

Richard Scarry has no taste...that stewardess is not even the slightest bit pretty.
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

andrew.60647 says:

I think we're all missing the weirdest thing - the book still shows passengers boarding a plane by stair instead of jetway.
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

Ting-a-ling says:

At what level are we going to take this non-gender PC crap? Are "women" going to eventually be upset to be called "women" or do they prefer to be called "men with vaginas"? Please stop this madness! Actressess dislike being called 'actressess'? Get a backbone! I can't believe there are women in the acting field running to mommy because they've been called an, (choke, bleah!) "actress". And don't get me upset about kids soccer in the US. Can't believe there are some soccer teams who are afraid to have goalkeepers because they don't want to hurt the other team from not making points. What the?!?!... This would never work in Corporate America! What would happen to these kids if they ever get fired from their first job? If suicide hotlines were a business they'd be a stock I'd invest in the long run.
Am I upset that America is turning out a bunch of future whimps? You damn right I am! Oh God! I'm already hearing 1/2 of America already whimpering while they read this post. Get some cojones, people!
Posted 26 months ago. ( permalink )

FrankEBailey says:

All political correctness is bullshit anyway. Trying to change the way the world is by changing the way we talk about it is like a whole bunch of flower children getting together to try to levitate the Pentagon. PC-ness is just another way for white people to assuage their guilt for raping the world over and over again for the past several thousand years.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

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Best Word Book Ever - Jet Plane

Comments

platypi says:

Hatchibombotar says:

The Eggplant says:

vanoakenfold says:

The Eggplant says:

Minus says:

Legerdemain1970 says:

hungrydog says:

Minus says:

Treehugger says:

Wade Rockett says:

internal says:

Man or Monster? says:

illskematiks says:

smackfu says:

missmookus says:

Isabelle T says:

luciferase says:

Jerrie says:

leto_x_atreides says:

cetaylor says:

vanderwal says:

brianjb says:

tannie annie says:

LordBuckley says:

tuppence1 says:

DangerWaffle says:

mcjake says:

andrew.60647 says:

Ting-a-ling says:

FrankEBailey says:

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The Best Word Book Ever,1963 and 1991. (Set)

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