quote:A chaste individual may have difficulty siring many heirs.
so that it will refer to both sexes. 'Acquiring' is the best I can come up with, but it's not quite right. Suggestions?
Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
Producing? Begetting?
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
"producing" maybe?
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Begetting, that's it! Thanks Eaquae.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I think you could easily say "She begot a daughter", although admittedly the rather patriarchal KJV probably wouldn't.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
You could just as easily say "She sired a daughter." If you're willing to ignore the dictionary definition, why are you looking for a different word.
How about "spawn." Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Because it's only one dictionary, and on the web at that; I prefer to trust my own sense of language.
"A sire" is the male-gendered counterpart to "a dam". "A begetter" is someone who causes the existence or coming into being of something - in accordance with the second definition of your dictionary. In the sentence "Did Kosovo beget East Timor?", which shows up on a quick Google, what gender would you assign to Kosovo?
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
creating?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Dags, your link gives "mother" as one of several synonyms. I think beget IS gender-neutral.
The original Hebrew is, not that it matters. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
"Beget" is traditionally paired with "bear" in the same way that "a sire" is paired with "a dam." I don't think the dualism is a sufficient reason to discard one and not the other, since both have a female analog.
Wordsmyth (which also provides the perhaps useful synonym "engender")
All agree that the usage is archaic, in any case. I think I vote for "produce."
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I agree with produce.
BTW, "heirs" is not precise usage. "Descendants" or "offspring" is more correct.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Heirs are easy to produce: you can have thousands. Just pick people out of the phonebook, and put them in your will.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
In some precise and technical aspects of property law, heirs are only those who would inherit if there were no will. So you can't pick them, and they don't exist until you die.
But in common usage, even common legal usage, you are correct. Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
How 'bout conceive? That word can be gender neutral, though it is most commonly used for the female.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I like progenerate.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
whelp?
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
procreate progeny?
Posted by punwit (Member # 6388) on :
I haven't seen the term issue or issuing yet.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
"dispensing"
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Thanks people, but I think I'll go with beget. It fits in with the general archaic tenor of a medieval game. (Besides, it's a nice five-letter Anglo-Saxon word.) I don't like 'produce', it rings wrong - kind of industrial. And 'conceive' sounds feminine to me. As for the issue of heirs vs offspring, we are talking of royal and noble dynasties, and offspring are mainly useful for being heirs.
Incidentally, you should all play Crusader Kings, check it out at the Paradox website. You might want to wait a couple of weeks for the patches to fix the English, though. It's a Swedish production, there were some issues with changing developers in midstream, and some of the language is seriously bad.
Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :
I have my games and you have your games, but I do intend of playing EU II.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Concieve? or did someone already concieve of that idea.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
"have kids."
Posted by zip (Member # 4710) on :
passing on their good looks.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Hush, Sid. Nooblets should be seen and not heard, or whatever the forum equivalent is.
'Conceive' is definitely female-only.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
I doan know nuffin' 'bout birthin' no babies!
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
I always liked "punch out a few kids" But that tends to imply female as well.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
"parenting"?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:Thanks people, but I think I'll go with beget.
Yes, but did you stick with the imprecise "heirs"?
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Indeed I did, see my post above for the reasoning. The same post, in fact, that you just quoted. Perhaps you did not read it all the way through?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
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But that tends to imply female as well.