List of English Words With Disputed Usage - G

G

• gender – Gender is often used interchangeably with sex in the sense of the biological or social quality, male and female. It is never used to refer to sexual intercourse.
  • Gender traditionally refers to grammatical gender, a feature in the grammar of a number of different languages. Some prescriptivists argue that its use as a euphemism for sex is to be avoided as a genteelism; Fowler (p. 211) says it is used "either as a jocularity...or a blunder."
  • Sex and gender can be used in different but related senses, with sex referring to biological characteristics and gender to social roles and expectations based on sex. Use of gender as interchangeable with or as a replacement for sex may confuse readers who draw this distinction. See gender identity, gender role.