Quote Originally Posted by OC Richard View Post
Hmmmm phrasing it as "the word flautist first appeared" hints at more legitimacy than the word has, as if it was in circulation.

It was coined by the poet. For some reason literary people who were outside the world of music picked up on it.

As far as I know it's never been used within musical circles.

Well it's like the term "bagpipist". Nobody in the piping world would use such an absurdity. But several times over the years I've found myself listed as that in programmes.

Pipers just say "piper".

The press does have a tendency to either coin or pick up on words that they think have a nice ring to them, and use them despite their not being recognised in the fields which newspeople apply the words to. There's a common example here in the USA that the rules of this site don't allow me to mention.
That's an interesting history. Personally, most flute players I've interacted with haven't had issues with the term, but perhaps that's a result of its normalization over time. I did always feel a bit self-conscious with the term "flautist," so it's nice to have alternative options that are also somewhat standard.