¿británico, o americano? fireman-firefighter, postman-mailman

Question

De las siguientes palabras ¿cuáles son las que se usan en los Estados Unidos?

fireman / firefighter, postman / mailman, policeman / police officer

Answer 1

Gracias por todas sus respuestas. Ciertamente desde que las mujeres ya hacen trabajos que tradicionalmente eran sólo para hombres se ha creado una nueva polémica en el uso de las palabras. México no es la excepción. Ahora hay mujeres chofer pero no las llamamos choferas. Sólo en algunos casos se ha adaptado la profesión para el femenino.

juez- jueza
presidente- presidenta

Answer 2

I once was scolded and corrected harshly for referring to the person in charge of our local post office as the "Postmistress." She was female and I inadvertently bungled in attempting to be "politically correct", but she was offended and made it clear to me that she was the "Postmaster." In this case, the "master" has nothing whatever to do with whether the person is male or female. It only signifies the "person" in charge. I thought she was being much too sensitive about it, but now, after nearly thirty years, I still remember that lesson. I admit, as a male, if I were working at one of these jobs, I wouldn't appreciate being called or referred to as a firewoman or policegirl etc. It's certainly O.K., I think, to refer to them generically as firemen, policemen etc. but when addressing or referring to an individual, it is courteous to modify the title to a neuter form or reflect their apparently obvious sex. Notice that Spanish dictates using "ellos" as the pronoun when referring to mixed gender groups.

Answer 3

Firefighter, ...I don't use either postman or mailman (our family calls her the "mail lady"), policeman. It depends on preference, I suppose.

I think most people around here (I'm in the southwest) say mailman.

Answer 4

Mostly depends on the age of the speaker. For reasons of 'political correctness' , many/most Americans now use firefighter/police officer (to avoid the appearance of 'gender bias'). I think 'postman' is more common in the British Isles while Americans used most commonly to say 'mailman' (now they probably say something like 'postal employee' or 'mail carrier').

Answer 5

Yo diría que en los Estados Unidos, se usa "firefighter, mailman, police officer." Espera a ver qué dicen los demás.