http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/05/05/heroes-of-the-switchboard-and-phone-lines/ Yesterday's tomorrow, today. Sat, 30 Aug 2008 14:27:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/05/05/heroes-of-the-switchboard-and-phone-lines/#comment-1054404 Charlie Tue, 06 May 2008 14:25:53 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/?p=4412#comment-1054404 Thanks for the the info Jerry! Thanks for the the info Jerry!

]]> http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/05/05/heroes-of-the-switchboard-and-phone-lines/#comment-1054402 Jerry Tue, 06 May 2008 13:58:17 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/?p=4412#comment-1054402 "Employee" was borrowed from French in the 19th century. For a long time, English-speaking people still used the French distinctions of "employé" (masculine) and "employée" (feminine). Following French and English conventions, one would use the masculine form of the word to refer to both male and female employees. Sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century, someone finally decided to regularize the English spelling with the common English pronunciation. My 1925 edition of H.W. Fowler's "Modern English Usage" still regards the spelling "employee" as an American innovation, but Fowler does recommend the modern spelling as being more sensible for business use. The acute accent took longer to go. I think I remember seeing the accent on "employée" on material printed as late as the 1970s. “Employee” was borrowed from French in the 19th century. For a long time, English-speaking people still used the French distinctions of “employé” (masculine) and “employée” (feminine). Following French and English conventions, one would use the masculine form of the word to refer to both male and female employees. Sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century, someone finally decided to regularize the English spelling with the common English pronunciation. My 1925 edition of H.W. Fowler’s “Modern English Usage” still regards the spelling “employee” as an American innovation, but Fowler does recommend the modern spelling as being more sensible for business use. The acute accent took longer to go. I think I remember seeing the accent on “employée” on material printed as late as the 1970s.

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