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Showerthoughts_Mod t1_j2bwahk wrote

This is a friendly reminder to read our rules.

Remember, /r/Showerthoughts is for showerthoughts, not "thoughts had in the shower!"

(For an explanation of what a "showerthought" is, please read this page.)

Rule-breaking posts may result in bans.

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TheAdmiralMoses t1_j2c0kke wrote

Just merman considering the etymology of maid when the phrase was created just meant a young woman most of the time

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AsianPotato77 t1_j2c0og7 wrote

by your logic wouldn't merbutler make more since

i thought servant was gender neutral

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Calenchamien t1_j2chl5e wrote

Replying to AsianPotato77 (#1,209,250)

Butler =/= maid though

But also, mermaid is not using “maid” in the sense of the profession, but as short for “maiden”, meaning woman. So the masculine version of mermaid is merman. Unsurprisingly

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AlephBaker t1_j2cimet wrote

Mervalet? For some reason, that sounds vaguely suggestive to me...

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Due_Tip_3051 t1_j2cvlaz wrote

Yes, that's cool but T Rex lived much closer to Twitter than it did to Stegosaurus.

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Glordicus t1_j2cygtc wrote

Replying to TheAdmiralMoses (#1,210,367)

Yes this is where a woman's "maiden" name comes from. Maid is actually closer to "virgin" than "unmarried" - but in ye olde times those were hand in hand. This is why you might hear of a "maiden voyage" for a ships first sail, because the ship is still virgin.

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Bdayn t1_j2d8e2r wrote

Merdude, Merguy, Merboy, Meryoungster, Merlord, Merduke, Merdick

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NighthawK1911 t1_j2dhy01 wrote

isn't the "maid" part from maiden?

Merlad would be more apt

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Hakaisha89 t1_j2do9vq wrote

Mermaid comes from the words Mere which means sea, and maid shortened from maiden, meaning unmarried or a virgin, which are synonyms since virgin USED to mean unmarried woman.
So unmarried man would be bachelor + mer suffic would be merbach.

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imregrettingthis t1_j2dx7g5 wrote

I believe maid is short for maiden in this context. Not house keeper.

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alilsus83 t1_j2ebwme wrote

Mermaid came from maiden not maid as in servant.

Maiden just meant a young woman, usually not married yet.

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DecalArtist t1_j2ec21w wrote

No... the male version is a mermaid is a merMAN , they didn't use MAID as a servant they used MAID as in MAIDen. The fact this "shower fart thought" 500+ upvotes 😑 People really think mermaids are cleaning ladies? SMH🤦‍♀️

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DrFitterWelder420 t1_j2faimd wrote

Hey! I thought puns were illegal here… still a golden thought though.

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