Larry Arnhart’s letter of March 17 proves that one shouldn’t talk about a subject he or she knows little about.

Arnhart says that “female” suggests an appendage of a male. The Oxford English Dictionary (long considered the “Bible” of the English language) states that a female is “a woman or girl as distinguished from a man or boy.” Mr. Arnhart can’t seem to accept the fact that almost all words change over time. Denial of this change in meaning is called etymological fallacy. Mr. Arnhart also says “feperson” and “woperson” are good substitutes for “female” and “woman.” By what authority does he say this? Have these words gone through a genuine development in our language, or are they merely arbitrary terms someone made up?

Mr. Arnhart and anyone else who is not knowledgeable on the subject of word development should define words according to a recognized, modern dictionary. Leave the linguistic hair-splitting to those who are truly qualified to do so.

Charlie Warfield

junior, English