I've always had a sneaking fondness for the word 'chauffeuse' - a female chauffeur... I dislike the way the language is being made sexless but can also see how many people would dislike being referred to in what is usually the diminutive form. It's a difficult position....

There are some titles that have never really been gender related - I feel that 'pilot' is one of them - after all, it can also be a sort of ship and ships are always female - the same goes for professors and doctor, you don't have doctoresses or professoresses (imagine the difficulty in making name tags for one!).

There is a tendancy to go too far to the PC side in an attempt not to offend anyone, which is laudable, but at the same time, very disheartening for those of us who love the diversity and complexity of the English language.

LTS