> It's interesting that in French a bike is masculine (le vélo) while
a
> bicycle is feminine (la bicyclette). However, in German it's masculine
> (das
> Fahrrad) but in Italian it's feminine (la bicicletta). It boggles the
> mind
> what will become of all these languages when Political Correctness
> takes
> over as it seems to be doing in English with the elimination of
> feminine
> gender nouns such as actress, hostess, etc.
>
> John Betmanis
> Woodstock, Ontario
> Canada
Yeah, but what about many German racers calling their bikes "die Rennmaschine", which is firmly in the feminine? Not being outdone by neither the French nor the Italians for once in this respect.
Regards, Toni Theilmeier, Belm, Germany, always referring to it as "das Rad", and never having given my Citroen 2CVs names, either.