On Suffixes and the English Language

Quickie post tonight. (Holy moly, a second post in my 'return' to this particular patch o' the intarwebs.)

The English language is not set up like the Spanish language. In Spanish, how a word ends designates a particular gender role; the most basic explanation is that words ending in 'o' are thought of as 'male', and words ending in 'a' are considered 'female.' English is not like this. Suffixes are gender-neutral. This includes the suffix -man. Oh yes, it does. A word ending in -man does not require the person indicated by the word actually be male. Check out the OED if you don't believe me. The very first entry (and thus the most accepted use of the word) is as follows- I. A human being (irrespective of sex or age). Changing words that normally end in -man to end in -person or -woman is arbitrary and useless. Now we are making up syntax rules to make sure that people don't get their feelings hurt. Bah. Seriously folks, words ending in -person are right up there with 'peeps', 'atm machine', and 'more better' on the list of things people say that make me want to punch them in the face.