Hi, Michael!  Awhile ago you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

 AH>  You may have seen jokes elsewhere of a type I'd describe
 AH>  as "gallows humour" from senior citizens about how, if
 AH>  one didn't say

 MD>  What is gallows here? Is it vicious, perverse, wicked or
 MD>  is it a gibbet, derrick?


          Literally, "gallows" is synonymous with "gibbet"... a structure where
 people are "hanged by the neck until dead".  A "derrick", AKA a "crane" in
this part of the world, is used for lifting heavy (non-human) physical objects.

          The term "gallows humour" is a metaphor.  It refers to a satirical or
 ironic commentary about matters which are/were frightening or painful for
those directly involved.  I guess one could call it "perverse" in the sense
that it's a deliberate & often rather mischievous departure from convention.



 AH>  "Miss Stickler, may I please go to the lavatory?" one would
 AH>  be completely ignored or be forced to sit through a lecture

 MD>  Hm-m-m... For me it is a strange joke, it is not funny at all.


          Not to worry!  AFAIC you've identified another distinguishing feature
... very few people find this sort of joke amusing unless they've had a similar
 experience.  It's not funny when you're in grade one or two & the teacher has
a polysyllabic British name you've never heard before & s/he expects you to
speak in a dialect nobody else around you uses.  I think there are folks here
who can probably relate because their parents... like mine... came from
SomePlace Else. When the wounds aren't so fresh, one sees from a different
perspective....  :-)



 AH>  When our daughter went to the same school I noticed the sign
 AH>  "GIRLS' LAVATORY" had been truncated to "GIRLS" [...].

 MD>  I understand you mean that girls' feelings were neglected.


          What I was thinking of was the sort of situation where one may not be
 taught how to read words such as "lavatory" (which has never been in common
use around these parts during my lifetime although it may have been at the time
 the school was built) or how to interpret various symbols.  I can't say for
certain what happened in the boys' basement because as females our daughter & I
 weren't allowed to set foot there... but I reckon that when the school began
to include kindergarten together with many students who weren't native speakers
 of English somebody realized it might be a good idea to update the signs for
both genders.

          While some women may have felt neglected or ignored by formal English
 years ago there were probably male nurses & elementary school teachers who
felt the same way.  The wording in the professional literature has changed
now... so one may see masculine & feminine pronouns used in alternate chapters.
  People's attitudes don't always change in response to changes in the
language, though... or if they do the changes tend to occur more slowly.



 MD>  it prepares a young person to a real life, doesn't it? It is
 MD>  interesting to hear what this environment manifested in?


          In other echoes, it is often said that whatever doesn't kill us makes
 us stronger.  I survived... I developed an "ear" for some of the fine points
of the language which others might miss... and eventually I began to realize I
was fairly proficient in English & enjoyed teaching it.  :-)



 AH>  While waiters & waitresses have been replaced by servers
 AH>  it would not be safe to assume a governess is a female
 AH>  governor...

 MD>  In Russian a governess is rather a governor's wife.


          Ah... just as a princess might be the wife of a prince.  In English a
 governess is a woman employed to teach other people's children at home.... 
:-)



 MD>  Here the society is more conservative and we have no such
 MD>  changes in the language yet. They are still ahead, but I
 MD>  think such changes are inevitable.


          Language is always growing & changing.  But in a conservative society
 folks may be less easily persuaded to hurry things along....  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)