# Governor vs. Governess **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 24, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813 "2012-04-24T16:28:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SDMBKL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdmbkl/32/7297_2.png) [@SDMBKL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SDMBKL)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/1 "2012-04-24T16:28:49Z")
Governor = a person elected to the highest executive office in a state in the United States Governess = a woman in charge of teaching children how to read, write, and do arithmetic Although the two terms look similar, why is that “governor” means a person elected to the highest executive office and is gender-neutral, whereas a “governess” is someone (typically female) who instructs children? 😕 The former is political, whereas the latter is a domestic servant. WTF? If a man instructs children, then he would be called a “tutor” and not “governor”? If a woman is incumbent of the governor’s office, then she would be called a “governor” and not “governess” or “governoress”? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/2 "2012-04-24T16:37:02Z")
What’s your question? Check out the first definition [here.](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/governess) ---
**Author:** ![SDMBKL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdmbkl/32/7297_2.png) [@SDMBKL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SDMBKL)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/3 "2012-04-24T16:41:55Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > What’s your question? > > Check out the first definition [here.](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/governess) The question is the first sentence with a question mark. 🙂 \*\*Although the two terms look similar, why is that “governor” means a person elected to the highest executive office and is gender-neutral, whereas a “governess” is someone (typically female) who instructs children? \*\* I didn’t really want a definition of governess. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/4 "2012-04-24T16:45:05Z")
It’s just part of the way languages work. The definition of any given word is nothing more than a convention, and the means by which definitions are “assigned” has more to do with convenience than logic. To give an example akin to your own, the English word _anthropology_ is a fairly direct translation of the Greek for “the science or study of man.” So if we use the same construction to coin a word for “the science or study of woman,” we get _gynecology_. Sorry, but that word’s already taken. Our modern languages evolved over thousands of years and bear a lot of cultural baggage, including plenty of sexism. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/5 "2012-04-24T16:46:09Z")
> [@SDMBKL](#): > > The question is the first sentence with a question mark. 🙂 > > \*\*Although the two terms look similar, why is that “governor” means a person elected to the highest executive office and is gender-neutral, whereas a “governess” is someone (typically female) who instructs children? \*\* > > I didn’t really want a definition of governess. :rolleyes: _Did you read the first definition?_ ---
**Author:** ![SDMBKL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdmbkl/32/7297_2.png) [@SDMBKL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SDMBKL)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/6 "2012-04-24T17:02:47Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > _Did you read the first definition?_ Merriam-Webster says “a woman who governs”. I find it strange though, that even though “governess” means a “female governor” in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, female governors will just be known as “governors” rather than “governesses”. I suppose it’s too differentiate from the connotation of being a caretaker of children from an incumbent in political office. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SDMBKL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdmbkl/32/7297_2.png) [@SDMBKL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SDMBKL)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/7 "2012-04-24T17:09:41Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > It’s just part of the way languages work. The definition of any given word is nothing more than a convention, and the means by which definitions are “assigned” has more to do with convenience than logic. > > To give an example akin to your own, the English word _anthropology_ is a fairly direct translation of the Greek for “the science or study of man.” So if we use the same construction to coin a word for “the science or study of woman,” we get _gynecology_. Sorry, but that word’s already taken. > > Our modern languages evolved over thousands of years and bear a lot of cultural baggage, including plenty of sexism. Well, “anthropos” means “man” in the sense of the gender-neutral term or species of man. There were archaic terms defining the male “man” and the female “man”. Another example would be calling a “pharmacist” an “apothecary” or vice versa. Back in the olden days, the apothecary was probably lower in rank than a physician. Nowadays, a pharmacist and a physician are probably middle-class equals. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/8 "2012-04-24T18:00:11Z")
This is just the way gendered languages work sometimes. In Russian there is no way to say Secretary, as in Secretary of State, without it being masculine. The feminine equivalent means secretary as in “some one who does typing and brings you coffee.” A female secretary of state causes them some problem, because unlike in English, you cannot use the masculine form to apply to anyone. English is actually considerably less gendered that some languages. If you say “woman Governor” it doesn’t sound like nonsense, whereas in some languages it does. There’s no reason for it except the general explanation that language is one way culture is encoded and transmitted. This is why the study of linguistics is considered one wing of the study of human culture (anthropology). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/9 "2012-04-24T18:04:14Z")
You’re thinking about the process wrong. Look at [this definition](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/governor): > [@](#): > > GOVERNOR > 1: one that governs: as > a : one that exercises authority especially over an area or group The word started small. Any man who was in charge of any group was a governor. A female was a governess. That usage still exists in the term “guv’nor,” applied to any person of status. Over time the word grew as societies grew, to include the head of larger and larger groups. Women were almost never placed in charge of large or important groups, so the term governess retained its original meaning. Because it still has that original meaning, people find it strange to suddenly start using it for women who have achieved equality of power in the modern world, and besides, those woman don’t like gender-based terms of power. So a female governor is today a governor, not a governess. The terms look similar because they once were gender variations of the exact same usage. It’s just that they diverged with time, in an standard process. There’s no WTF? about it. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/10 "2012-04-24T18:28:54Z")
A similar thing happened with _ducere_, “to lead”. Anybody that duced around all day would be a ductus. If something needed leading, he’d duce the shit out of it. Then someone started calling society’s bosses “Duke”. Today, you wouldn’t call your boss or quarterback a Duke, now would you? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/11 "2012-04-24T18:33:31Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > You’re thinking about the process wrong. Look at [this definition](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/governor): > The word started small. Any man who was in charge of any group was a governor. A female was a governess. That usage still exists in the term “guv’nor,” applied to any person of status. > > Over time the word grew as societies grew, to include the head of larger and larger groups. Women were almost never placed in charge of large or important groups, so the term governess retained its original meaning. Because it still has that original meaning, people find it strange to suddenly start using it for women who have achieved equality of power in the modern world, and besides, those woman don’t like gender-based terms of power. So a female governor is today a governor, not a governess. > > The terms look similar because they once were gender variations of the exact same usage. It’s just that they diverged with time, in an standard process. There’s no WTF? about it. The divergence in meaning between master and mistress provides another example of this. The two terms originated as male and female equivalents but drifted apart in meaning due to their real world usage. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/12 "2012-04-24T18:34:05Z")
> [@SDMBKL](#): > > Another example would be calling a “pharmacist” an “apothecary” or vice versa. Back in the olden days, the apothecary was probably lower in rank than a physician. Nowadays, a pharmacist and a physician are probably middle-class equals. Be careful not to say that where a physician might hear. How about “mister” and “mistress”?😉 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/13 "2012-04-24T19:17:07Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > A similar thing happened with _ducere_, “to lead”. Anybody that duced around all day would be a ductus. If something needed leading, he’d duce the shit out of it. Would that be _biggus ductus_ or _biggus dickus_? ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/14 "2012-04-25T00:50:36Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > You’re thinking about the process wrong. Look at [this definition](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/governor): > The word started small. Any man who was in charge of any group was a governor. A female was a governess. That usage still exists in the term “guv’nor,” applied to any person of status. > > (snipped) > > The terms look similar because they once were gender variations of the exact same usage. It’s just that they diverged with time, in an standard process. There’s no WTF? about it. You can also see it in the use of the word “governor” in mechanics for items that regulate something or other in a complex set of machinery. English has the default (generally, not in every case, etc.) for the masculine version of a word to be the “base” word, and then if necessary, have a feminine version offshoot from that. For something like governor/governess, there WAS a female position that was common enough to need a specific term - therefore geverness got created and used regularly for that. In contrast, for some things, we just never had a feminine offshoot come into popular usage - think of President for example, or Officer. Both of those, I’m fairly certain, are because there was a long period of time where a woman wouldn’t BE either of those terms, and then the period of social shift which changed that situation was so quick (in linguistic terms) that a female offshoot never really had a chance to get off the ground. So we linguistically jumped straight from: President = assume male to President = assume gender-neutral. The reverse can be seen happening with the word Nurse - it’s gone from: Nurse = female to Nurse = neutral. Male nurses (instead of doctors) are a new and strange societal shift - language didn’t have any way of knowing that droves of menfolk were going to purposefully decide to choose a profession that was considered a much lesser valued option instead of being doctors like they should have. (The view is still shifting - there was a study using the conundrum “Doctor is operating on son, but Doctor isn’t the Father, who is the Doctor?” and noting that younger people are stumped far less often than their elders…) but the point remains - language isn’t predictive, so all we can do is make use of what makes most sense at the time, and is still available to use. I think your problem is that you’re expecting language to be always logical and consistent. As a continually evolving construct, it really can’t be expected to be either. In fact, with English being the bastard hybrid that it is, I’m often surprised that it is as logical and systemic as it actually is! ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/15 "2012-04-25T03:13:28Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > …In Russian there is no way to say Secretary, as in Secretary of State, without it being masculine. The feminine equivalent means secretary as in “some one who does typing and brings you coffee.” A female secretary of state causes them some problem, because unlike in English, you cannot use the masculine form to apply to anyone… In Spanish _el policía_ is “the policeman”; _la policía_ means “the police”, not “the policewoman” (that’s _la mujer policía_). It get’s worse. _El hombre public_ means “public man” (ie a politician); _la mujer publica_ means “public woman” (ie a whore). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/16 "2012-04-25T07:30:24Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > In Spanish _el policía_ is “the policeman”; _la policía_ means “the police”, not “the policewoman” (that’s _la mujer policía_). It get’s worse. _El hombre public_ means “public man” (ie a politician); _la mujer publica_ means “public woman” (ie a whore). While the first was true a few decades back, nowadays _la policía_ means both the police and the policewoman, at least in countries where the sight of policewomen has become common (in writing they’re differentiated by capitalization). And picking a few more nits, it’s _el hombre público_ (you were missing the -o) and _la mujer pública_. ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/17 "2012-04-25T08:01:34Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Today, you wouldn’t call your boss or quarterback a Duke, now would you? Depends, if I worked in the office of the Earl Marshal of England, I probably would 😃 (boss: Duke of Norfolk) ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/18 "2012-04-25T08:10:47Z")
Why do we drive on a parkway but park on a driveway? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/19 "2012-04-25T09:12:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The divergence in meaning between master and mistress provides another example of this. The two terms originated as male and female equivalents but drifted apart in meaning due to their real world usage. Also dominator and dominatrix—the latter usually has a more specialized meaning than the former. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813/20 "2012-04-25T13:34:43Z")
> [@SDMBKL](#): > > If a man instructs children, then he would be called a “tutor” and not “governor”? That’s your basis misconception. At the time when women who oversaw the education of children in a private household began to be called a ‘governess’, the men who did likewise were just as likely to be called a ‘governor’ as a ‘tutor’. My strong suspicion would be that this use of ‘governor’ then falls out of fashion mainly because the men performing that role were keen to emphasise that they provided more advanced teaching and that they were thus not the mere male counterparts of a ‘governess’. Even when the two roles were actually much the same. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/governor-vs-governess/619813.md?page=2)