Blonde or Blond?

[Johnny_L.A]

@aceplace57

Blond is actually a male. Blonde is female.

This.

[Dinsdale]

No preference as to spelling, tho I’d prefer that the fair-haired ones stop pronouncing it “blon-day”.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@pulykamell

@RealityChuck

A blond man.
A blonde woman.

One of the few adjectives in the English language that still has grammatical gender.

Is that Chicago Manual of Style? I don’t have it in front of me, so I can’t check. Associate Press Style, though, says “blond” as an adjective in both cases, but “blond” for the male noun and “blonde” for the female noun.

The OED says only the adjective form gains an e.

[pulykamell]

@Really_Not_All_That_Bright

@pulykamell

Is that Chicago Manual of Style? I don’t have it in front of me, so I can’t check. Associate Press Style, though, says “blond” as an adjective in both cases, but “blond” for the male noun and “blonde” for the female noun.

The OED says only the adjective form gains an e.

It wouldn’t be the first time AP Style is out-of-step with others.

[Silver_Fire]

@AClockworkMelon

I answered “blonde” because, until this thread, that’s how I’ve always used it. I never knew about the gender distinction. Consider my ignorance fought.

Me too.

[Skald_the_Rhymer]

@AClockworkMelon

I answered “blonde” because, until this thread, that’s how I’ve always used it. I never knew about the gender distinction. Consider my ignorance fought.

A similar distinction exists for brunet & brunette, though not for ginger or raven.

[Candyman74]

I’m mildly confused. I’ve never heard of “blond” not being male and “blonde” not being female, or of anyone having any (a) issue with it or (b) problem knowing it. Is this some regional modern trend or something?

[Peremensoe]

Has anyone ever actually read or written description of a man as “a blond” (or “a brunet,” etc.) as opposed to “blond-haired” (or whatever) or some other construction?

It seems to me that only women are described as objects defined by their hair color.

[Serenata67]

Is anyone else thinking that the more you read and say the word “blonde” (or “blond”), the more ridiculous it sounds?

[Skald_the_Rhymer]

@spark240

Has anyone ever actually read or written description of a man as “a blond” (or “a brunet,” etc.) as opposed to “blond-haired” (or whatever) or some other construction?.

Googling “he was blond” -blonde returns 115,000 results. Changing to present tense yields 32K.

[elfkin477]

@spark240

Has anyone ever actually read or written description of a man as “a blond” (or “a brunet,” etc.) as opposed to “blond-haired” (or whatever) or some other construction?

Yep. I finished co-writing a story a few months ago, and part of the editing process involved fixing all the times my co-writer described one of the male characters as “the blonde [noun].” I wasn’t thrilled with him being “the blond” either, but at least that’s the correct form.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@spark240

Has anyone ever actually read or written description of a man as “a blond” (or “a brunet,” etc.) as opposed to “blond-haired” (or whatever) or some other construction?

Magician, Raymond E. Feist (Doubleday, 1982):

She pursued his last comment. “That beautiful blond man who was with you a few minutes ago? Who is he?”
Pug smiled knowingly. “Your most devoted subject, from all appearances. He is Laurie, a troubadour from Tyr-Sog, and a rascal of limitless wit and charm. He has a loving heart and a brave spirit, and is a true friend. I’ll tell you sometime of how he saved my life at peril of his own.”

Finally, working my way through the complete ouevre of Ray Feist has paid off!

ETA: Fuckin’ elfkin!

[pulykamell]

@Candyman74

I’m mildly confused. I’ve never heard of “blond” not being male and “blonde” not being female, or of anyone having any (a) issue with it or (b) problem knowing it. Is this some regional modern trend or something?

I’m not sure how modern or regional it is, but AP style, as mentioned boave, has long advocated “blonde” only when it’s used as a noun for a female, otherwise, “blond” in all other cases. Anyhow, read this usage note:

The spelling blonde is still widely used for the noun that specifies a woman or girl with fair hair: The blonde with the baby in her arms is my anthropology professor. Some people object to this as an unnecessary distinction, preferring blond for all persons: My sister is thinking of becoming a blond for a while. As an adjective, the word is more usually spelled blond in reference to either sex ( an energetic blond girl; two blond sons ), although the form blonde is occasionally still used of a female: the blonde model and her escort. The spelling blond is almost always used for the adjective describing hair, complexion, etc.: His daughter has blond hair and hazel eyes.

I personally would prefer for it to be blond in all cases, but usually end up following AP rules.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

That dictionary.com usage note is from the Random House Dictionary, which is not exactly a scholarly work.

[aceplace57]

There’s also the nickname Blondie. I’ve never heard it used except for Debbie Harry’s band and the cartoon strip.

[pulykamell]

@Really_Not_All_That_Bright

That dictionary.com usage note is from the Random House Dictionary, which is not exactly a scholarly work.

I think it fairly represents American usage, in my experience.

At any rate, here’s the AP entry, too:

blond, blonde Use blond as a noun for males and as an adjective for all applications: She has blond hair.

Use blonde as a noun for females.

Does Random House have a particularly bad reputation among dictionaries?

[Inner_Stickler]

Things I don’t care about include specifying gender via the spelling of a hair color. Blond is fine by me.

[Malleus_Incus_Stapes]

I’d never even noticed there were different spellings.

Nor did I know that “brunette” was gendered. I mean, now that I think about, the spelling is French feminine- but I didn’t think about it. I certaintly never heard of a “brunet”.

[elfkin477]

@Really_Not_All_That_Bright

ETA: Fuckin’ elfkin!

I can’t help it that you type slower.

[BigT]

I’d never heard of brunet either. I thought brunette was the diminutive -ette prefix added on to the word brown. I’m happy to finally have a word for brown-headed males.

And, on blond(e), I’ve always used it in its gendered form. This is mostly because I think “blonde” looks better, but I will not use it inaccurately on men.

A word where I don’t do that is actor vs. actress. I think actor looks better, and only use actress when I am emphasizing the fact that the actor is female.