men drivers / women drivers

[Tan Elaine]

"Women drivers' is the plural of 'woman driver'. Is there such a term as 'men drivers' and 'man driver'?

Thanks.

 

[5jj]

There is, but it is far less commonly used. The assumption in the bad old days of sexist humour was that 'real' drivers were automatically men.

Also, until the 1939-45 war and indeed, in Britain, well into the 1960s, far more men than women drove.

 

[Amigos4]

"Women drivers' is the plural of 'woman driver'. Is there such a term as 'men drivers' and 'man driver'?

Thanks.

In the US, we commonly use the term 'male drivers' instead of 'men drivers' and 'man driver'. ;-)

 

[emsr2d2]

In the US, we commonly use the term 'male drivers' instead of 'men drivers' and 'man driver'. ;-)

On that basis, do you use "female driver(s)" as well?

 

[BobSmith]

On that basis, do you use "female driver(s)" as well?

[not a teacher]

Yes, "male/female driver" might be used in news story to describe a suspect or victim. "Woman driver/women drivers" is strictly a pejorative, but not so with "women driving".

BTW, there are a lot of gendered/sexist terms that are going out of favor, such as male nurse, or female rabbi, for obvious reasons.

 

[BobSmith]

The assumption in the bad old days of sexist humour was that 'real' drivers were automatically men.

Back before sexism was bad.

(Sorry, couldn't help the David Brent-like joke.)

 

[SoothingDave]

There is, but it is far less commonly used. The assumption in the bad old days of sexist humour was that 'real' drivers were automatically men.

Also, until the 1939-45 war and indeed, in Britain, well into the 1960s, far more men than women drove.

And we used to just have "clocks" until the invention of digital clocks made us start having "analog" ones.

 

[BobSmith]

And we used to just have "clocks" until the invention of digital clocks made us start having "analog" ones.

And yet we still have "wireless phones". You'd be hard-pressed to find a wired one now, cell, mobile, or land line. (Or course in the case of a land line, AmE calls it a "cordless phone", but, same intent.)

 

[emsr2d2]

I still know quite a lot of people in the UK who have a wired landline, as opposed to a cordless phone. However, I doubt I would feel the need to differentiate between the two.

I only refer to my mobile phone as my mobile phone in order to differentiate it from my landline.

Please call me on my mobile.
Please call me on my landline.

Please call my mobile.
Please call my landline.

 

[Amigos4]

On that basis, do you use "female driver(s)" as well?

Yes! Please note the following headline from the New York Daily News website:

Women better at parking than men, according to study by Britain's National Car Parks

Female drivers find spots faster, use better technique and park in the center of the space more often than men



Read more: Women better at parking than men, according to study by Britain's National Car Parks - NY Daily News​