I'm all for hearing about 1780s Dublin cant. And whether Dean Burroughs really wrote it too.
The issue of latent (that is unintended) sexism in language and the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is also interesting. Coleridge, writing in the Aids to Reflection quite rightly pointed out that it was impossible for a strict materialist to argue his case because "there is not a language on earth, in which he could argue, for ten minutes, in support of his scheme, without sliding into words and phrases, that imply the contrary." It's likewise very difficult to express oneself with any vigor without being sexist (to somebody); even an advocate of anti-sexism might fall into problems. A quick google, for instance, of "Mary Wollstonecraft" and "seminal" produces many hits with phrases such as "Mary Wollstonecraft's seminal feminist tract A Vindication of the Rights . . . ."
David Latane
