On 2007-01-27, Mxsmanic wrote:
Dylan Smith writes:

I'm curious - what makes the term 'steward' or 'stewardess' offensive or
wrong?

Wrong is a strong word.

The most rational objection I've heard is that it's inaccurate because
flight attendants are not actually steward(esse)s. A steward is a
kind of personal assistant, or household domestic, or valet, or
waiter, and so on. Flight attendants, however, are safety
technicians; the usual tasks for which they are best known are in fact
just busy work, because the only reason they are really there is to
help in emergencies. Thus, "flight attendant" is more accurate.

Hrm. I always thought about it the other way - "flight attendant", to me
at least, always sounded to me more to describe a "waiter in the sky",
whereas steward or stewardess seemed to suggest a lot more.

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