Quote Originally Posted by highlander_Daz
How I laughed when i first saw the words Chairperson and postperson.
Me too- why not call them chairwoman or postman if they are in fact, that gender? It's when speaking in generalities that it gets a little silly- the Chairmen instead of the Chairs, or postmen instead of post office personnel. (Not all of whom are men or even, strictly mail carriers, y'know?) (PS- I like gender-neutral language)

The 'a' isn't silent, BTW, I don't know what you mean by that. Are you talking about the plural 'men' when attached to a word? (Just curious- I've never heard that before)

Anyway- the Japanese stick and sword story- Miyamoto Musashi, whom the story is about, then became Japan's greatest swordsman, and it was only due to his (really good) opponent underestimating him and being sloppy with over-confidence that he managed to get in and whack the guy in the head with a boat oar. It's a story about overconfidence in one's weapon more than anything else.