A slip of the tongue.

[sinkov]

Thanks, Norder. Etymology has long been one of my interests.

It interests me too why, linguistically, female nouns often defer to male nouns. Once we had actress. Now all are generally referred to as actor. Similarly, authoresses are now authors. Yet so many rail against male dominance in society.

Why are male actors not referred to as actresses?

Any thoughts?

I think the use of actor for for actresses is a political construct. The Guardian banned the use of the word 'actress' in it's pages a long while ago, which gives you a clue to the origins.

"Similar moves have been made by government agencies across the U.S. over the past several years. For example, in 2007 the California state senate approved the removal of the phrase man and wife from all official references to marriage and its replacement with two persons.

Most recently, and most comprehensively Washington concluded its six-year effort to root out “gender bias” in its state laws by rewriting all its statutes using “gender-neutral vocabulary.” As reported by Reuters (Apr. 22, 2013), this sweeping, almost Herculean, task was overseen by a 40-member team in the state’s Code Reviser’s Office. After submitting a series of bills since 2007, each reportedly over hundreds of pages long, the Code Reviser’s Office issued its final bill, a massive 475-page tome, which was signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee on April 22, 2013.

Among code reviser Kyle Thiessen’s “achievements” is the substitution of the following words:

 fisher for fisherman
 signal operator for signalman
 journey-level plumber for journeyman plumber
 handwriting for penmanship
 first-year student for freshman

Clearly, one of the code reviser’s chief goals was to neuter the inclusive masculine form in as many words as possible."

George Orwell saw it coming in '1984'.