As I remember it "petite" began as a softer, gentler, more sensitive way to say "short" or "small". It is an example of Climbing the Euphemism Ladder, I think. After some time, the euphemism takes the place of the term it was supposed to replace.
this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
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The reason it's only used for women is because French is a Romance (gendered) language and petite is the feminine singular form of the word petit. It's not different than the Spanish pequeña VS pequeño. I don't necesarily see a problem with it, but Spanish is my native language so I'm used to the concept
@Canadian_Cabinet But like wy it needs to be that way for english ?
It doesn't need to be, but English speakers have a habit of arbitrarily choosing the gendered word that they import from languages with gendered adjectives and nouns. For example, even men massage therapists are "masseuses" and not "masseurs".
Somewhat strangely, we have slowly dropped our own gendered titles over the decades. We no longer say "manageress" nor "doctoress" and many people have stopped saying "actress".
English speakers as a large group seem to not try to maintain any logic to their choices. They merely copy others and don't think much about what they're saying. If you refuse to use "petite" like that, it only increases the chances that others stop, but we would probably need some influential person to criticize it---but not too loudly!---for larger segments of the English speaking world to change their habits.
Strong opinions on language from someone who can barely type…
@gamer I'm not someone who can barely type , i type this way intentionally
I agree with your post, I find it kinda gross in certain contexts (though I think it is useful in clothing brands, as a person with a short torso only petite shirts fit me). But why do you intentionally type like this, dropping a bunch of random letters and adding others?
I am genuinely very curious to know why. Is it some kind of conspiracy thing?
I find my penis to be cute, quaint, petite, and unassuming. As your unlicensed mental health amateur i prescribe much grass touching for you. Your primero mundo problemo is sehr petite.
petite just means small in french, you're ready too much of it, and the gendering is important for classifying porn, so one doesn't scroll for hours to find what they want to see
How much have you had to drink today?