# When I say the word "server"... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 15, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682 "2017-05-15T20:17:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/1 "2017-05-15T20:17:51Z")
…what’s the first thing you think of? A waiter/waitress? A computer? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/2 "2017-05-15T21:21:07Z")
I’m an engineer so of course my mind immediately went to “computer”. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/3 "2017-05-15T21:33:29Z")
With no context at all: machine. But obviously my answers vary when used in sentences like, “My name is Alicia, and I’ll be your server this evening; can I get you something to drink?” and “We need a new NAT rule to allow ssh to this server from outside the subnet.” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/4 "2017-05-15T21:37:16Z")
Tennis. ---
**Author:** ![Mikeisskeptical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@Mikeisskeptical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikeisskeptical)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/5 "2017-05-15T21:46:43Z")
Computer, although conducting this poll online may be introducing some subtle bias. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/6 "2017-05-15T21:47:21Z")
If I’m at a restaurant, a waitress. All other times, computer. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/7 "2017-05-15T21:53:55Z")
A computer. Probably down. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/8 "2017-05-16T00:19:46Z")
Since I work in IT, it’s a computer. But it depends on context. In a restaurant,I know it means a waiter/waitress. You know sometimes words have two meanings. ---
**Author:** ![Unabashed\_Fascist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c2a13f/32.png) [@Unabashed\_Fascist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unabashed_Fascist)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/9 "2017-05-16T00:26:30Z")
I’ve worked many years as a busboy, and currently work as a computer programmer who sshs into remote servers everyday, and the first thing I thought of was… volleyball. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/10 "2017-05-16T01:45:07Z")
Computer. I learned that meaning years before ever hearing of it to refer to a person. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/11 "2017-05-16T01:53:02Z")
Aside: Spanish has a similar duality for _servidor_, but the person-meaning refers to a specific meaning of “servant”, not to a waiter. It’s only encountered in extremely old-fashioned expressions where the speaker refers to himself as “your humble servant” (_su seguro servidor_) or to himself in the third person in a “this person does not thing he is Gaius Iulius Caesar” kind of way (nurse to waiting room: “Joe Smith?” Joe Smith: “_¡servidor!_”); the two usages are regional and used in different regions. That one I’d encountered first to refer to people. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/12 "2017-05-16T02:22:22Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > You know sometimes words have two meanings. Really? Thanks. Not sure where the hostility is coming from. I always think of a PC when I hear that word which makes me do a double take sometimes when I read some tweets or other things out of context where it means the other thing and I thought it would be an interesting question. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/13 "2017-05-16T03:49:21Z")
I am intelligent enough to understand the context of the conversation and choose the appropriate definition. so…Why not both?? ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/14 "2017-05-16T04:02:50Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Really? Thanks. > > Not sure where the hostility is coming from. Is that a stairway I see WHOOSHing its way to heaven? ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/15 "2017-05-16T04:05:48Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > You know sometimes words have two meanings. > [@Quimby](#): > > Really? Thanks. > > Not sure where the hostility is coming from. I always think of a PC when I hear that word which makes me do a double take sometimes when I read some tweets or other things out of context where it means the other thing and I thought it would be an interesting question. ‘In a tree by the brook, there’s a songbird who sings, Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.’ ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/16 "2017-05-16T04:21:41Z")
They can call themselves servers all they want, but it’s not the first word I associate with them. It is, however, the first (and likely only) word I can think of for the computing concept. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/17 "2017-05-16T07:19:17Z")
Is “server” for waiter/waitress a new thing? I don’t remember it from the last time I was in the States. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/18 "2017-05-16T10:03:49Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Is “server” for waiter/waitress a new thing? I don’t remember it from the last time I was in the States. It’s not brand new, but it’s part of the gender neutral language push. Like using flight attendant instead of steward or stewardess. I work for a restaurant chain, so I thought waitperson first. Server sounds much better than waitperson. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/19 "2017-05-16T10:58:35Z")
Fun fact: In English server means one who serves. While in Ottoman Turkish [سرور](https://tr.wiktionary.org/wiki/server#T.C3.BCrk.C3.A7e) _server_ means ‘one who rules’. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682/20 "2017-05-16T11:21:33Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > If I’m at a restaurant, a waitress. All other times, computer. This. And when I first read the thread title, I thought, oh, this is gonna be about waitpeeps vs computers. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-the-word-server/786682.md?page=2)