# Why is it "Rapist" and not "Raper" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2005, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954 "2005-06-12T06:39:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/21 "2005-06-13T07:55:28Z")
The crude and despicable expression “rape artist” was common in the 1950s as I recall. Perhaps the combination of the 2 words gave rise to term rapist. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/22 "2005-06-13T08:45:39Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > The crude and despicable expression “rape artist” was common in the 1950s as I recall. Perhaps the combination of the 2 words gave rise to term rapist. The OED gives the first recorded use of “rapist” as 1883. I’m not _sure_, but I don’t think “rape artist” was used much earlier than 1920. It’s not in any of my dictionaries, which isn’t surprising since it’s so slangy and offensive. The earliest cites I know of for it are all from Fatty Arbuckle’s case, and it always appears in quotes, attributed to Fatty’s social circle, which makes it clear that it wasn’t expected to be taken as a usual term. More of a “Tsk-tsk, those cocaine-addled Hollywoodland riff-raff” kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/23 "2005-06-13T09:28:39Z")
I’ve never understood why a person who escapes from prison is an “escapee”, not an “escaper.” The -ee suffix is normally used for the passive half of some duo: payor/payee, mortgator/mortgatee, licensor/licensee. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/24 "2005-06-13T13:14:56Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > Arlo Guthrie used that form in _Alice’s Restaurant Massacree_ when describing those sitting next to him on the group W bench. It’s also in the Rolling Stones’ “Midnight Rambler.” (“I’m called the hit-and-run raper in anger.”) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/25 "2005-06-13T13:17:03Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > I’ve never understood why a person who escapes from prison is an “escapee”, not an “escaper.” The -ee suffix is normally used for the passive half of some duo: payor/payee, mortgator/mortgatee, licensor/licensee. The same oddity holds for people who attend a convention being referred to as attendees. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/26 "2005-06-13T13:54:35Z")
> [@Jonathan Woodall](#): > > Bah. They ain’t got nothing on “Tom Raper RV Dealership” in or about Charleston, West Virginia. Richmond, Indiana. > [@Walloon](#): > > I’ve never understood why a person who escapes from prison is an “escapee”, not an “escaper.” That’s exactly what I came in here to ask about. Also “patentee.” Shouldn’t be person applying for the patent be the “patenter”? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/27 "2005-06-13T14:16:03Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Also “patentee.” Shouldn’t be person applying for the patent be the “patenter”? That one makes sense, because the applicant is granted the patent by the Patent Office. He doesn’t issue the patent himself. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/28 "2005-06-13T14:20:49Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > “Gangster” is also not a good example to use, as it has no verb form that I’m aware of. “To Gang” = to go. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/29 "2005-06-13T14:28:50Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > That one makes sense, because the applicant is granted the patent by the Patent Office. He doesn’t issue the patent himself. But then it should be correct to say that the P.T.O. patented an invention. Instead we say that the inventor patented an invention. Whoever does the patenting should, logically, be the “patenter.” ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/30 "2005-06-13T14:33:56Z")
I had assumed the -ee form of nouns (escapee, attendee) was drawn from the past tense of French verbs (escape being the reflexive _s’échapper_ in the infinitive), but if I’m wrong I’m sure language maven Dopers will be along to correct that _tout de suite_. Why these past tense verb forms would then be default feminine (second e) is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/31 "2005-06-13T14:37:38Z")
Does it involve a huge fog over Rome? > [@AskNott](#): > > Bigamist? Well, now. That’s another joke entirely, an ethnic one. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/32 "2005-06-13T16:08:49Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Richmond, Indiana. Actually, Tom Raper owns a Chevy dealership in or about Charleston. It doesn’t seem to feature in the web site. I imagine RVs are a higher-margin item than GM passenger cars, so maybe that makes sense. Tom Raper also sponsors a racing team. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/33 "2005-06-13T16:29:07Z")
If I had a dollar for every Tom Raper commercial I watched as a kid (“It’s absolutely worth the drive to Richmond!”)… ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/34 "2005-06-13T17:49:24Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > I’ve never understood why a person who escapes from prison is an “escapee”, not an “escaper.” Maybe at one time the “escaper” was considered to be the person who enabled the ‘escapee’ to do so. The ‘patentee’ **applies** for a patent and is **granted** one by the patenting authority. S/he doesn’t make one. The ‘ee’ ending in this context therefore kind of makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/35 "2005-06-13T18:08:40Z")
I’ve often wondered why the term “serial killer” was in common use a good twenty years before “serial rapist.” ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/36 "2005-06-13T18:43:48Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > I’ve never understood why a person who escapes from prison is an “escapee”, not an “escaper.” The -ee suffix is normally used for the passive half of some duo. The -ee suffix isn’t always part of an -ee/-or dichotomy, though. Sometimes it makes a noun out of a conditional signifier. We have “escapee,” “refugee,” “divorcee,” “enshrinee,” “absentee,” “commitee,” (originally applied to one person) “returnee,” “abscondee,” “transplantee,” “devotee,” “internee,” etc. In all of these examples, the -ee suffix makes a word that means “a person who is” whatever condition the modified word denotes. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/37 "2005-06-13T18:51:32Z")
Something else to consider: Raper is a surname. For the purposes of describing someone who rapes, would it not be better to use a term that’s not a surname? ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/38 "2005-06-13T19:02:41Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > I’ve never understood why a person who escapes from prison is an “escapee”, not an “escaper.” The -ee suffix is normally used for the passive half of some duo: payor/payee, mortgator/mortgatee, licensor/licensee. I’ve always understood “escaper” to refer to someone who is attempting to escape, and “escapee” as someone who has been sucessful in the attempt. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/39 "2005-06-13T19:59:20Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > It’s just a noun thing. Interesting. Add “balloonist” to the list. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954/40 "2005-06-14T00:35:01Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > The -ee suffix isn’t always part of an -ee/-or dichotomy, though. > > Sometimes it makes a noun out of a conditional signifier. > > We have “escapee,” “refugee,” “divorcee,” “enshrinee,” “absentee,” “commitee,” (originally applied to one person) “returnee,” “abscondee,” “transplantee,” “devotee,” “internee,” etc. > > In all of these examples, the -ee suffix makes a word that means “a person who is” whatever condition the modified word denotes. Actually, most of these examples do express the passive end of a relationship. A refugee is given refuge, ane enshrinee is enshrined, a commitee, either singular or plural, is committed (by some larger body) to some task. Of course, that doesn’t mean they all do. This is English, you know. “Divorceé” was the original spelling, coming from French. I wonder if thta has anything to do with the difference in meaning form other -ee ending words. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-rapist-and-not-raper/307954.md?page=3)