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AsianPotato77 t1_j2c0og7 wrote

by your logic wouldn't merbutler make more since

i thought servant was gender neutral

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Calenchamien t1_j2chl5e wrote

Butler =/= maid though

But also, mermaid is not using “maid” in the sense of the profession, but as short for “maiden”, meaning woman. So the masculine version of mermaid is merman. Unsurprisingly

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Kell11101 t1_j2csy8e wrote

Perhaps “gentleman” is more analogous to “maiden” hence making the masculine version “mergent”

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lookingForPatchie t1_j2dvgge wrote

Or, since the term is so old it might be "merwere", the word "man" has only been used to describe male humans for a few hundred years, the medieval term being "were" as in werewolf.

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AsianPotato77 t1_j2cim6x wrote

I'm aware but OP's showerthought implies the connotation of a profession hence "by that logic"

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