Emeritus vs. Emerita

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Yes, hello.

That’s Dorothy Hughes on Mount Helix.

Hi, Dorothy.

How are you doing today?

Pretty good, thank you.

What’s on your mind today, Dorothy?

I’m a retired professor, and I jokingly say the reason I got a Ph.D. was because I was so annoyed in the 1960s with people saying Ms. instead of Mrs., but in those days you still didn’t have your name. You had, you know, it was Mrs. Jo Jones or whoever you were.

Right.

You went to college to get your MRS degree, right?

No, I went to college to get my doctorate.

Oh, well, yeah.

I meant women in general used to say that.

Well, yeah, but anyhow.

Right.

So you wanted to be a doctor, Dr. Dorothy.

Yeah, but the thing is that I retired in 1992 and became a professor emeritus. And editors, I do a lot of writing and get quoted on things, and they call me emerita or emeritai. And it goes back to that same old Ms. thing, you know. I say, oh, no, it’s emeritus. That’s the fifth declension in Latin. But I don’t even know if there is a fifth declension in Latin.

Well, there is.

Bravo for bluffing, because I bet you win the day every time.

Oh, yeah, they just say, oh, okay.

Right. They can’t argue with you. You have a Ph.D., right?

It really bugs me to say, to feminize this, because it shouldn’t be.

So what do you think?

The Latin is kind of irrelevant here. I mean, there isn’t a, if you look at emeritus and emerita in Latin, you’ll see that they are two different forms. But your question is, here in the 21st century, should we actually be differentiating between a professor who has made a contribution to a university over years and years and years? Should we differentiate between the male and the female there?

Right.

Right.

And I would have to agree with you.

Really?

I’m actually surprised to hear you say that.

Really?

I don’t have a really strong opinion on this, but I do know that Professor Emerita can be an actual correct way to refer to somebody in Dorothy’s position.

Oh, sure, sure. And that word came into English 200 years or so after Emeritus. You know, it was around the beginning of the 1900s when they suddenly started having, I suppose, women infiltrating academia like that.

Well, I think I’m going to side with you both and say that even though Professor Emeritus exists, actress also exists, but I think actor is perfectly fine to apply to a man or woman. And I think Professor Emeritus is also perfectly fine to apply to a man or woman.

Thank you.

So I think we’re all in agreement.

Yeah.

That’s highly unusual.

We’re the bells.

There should be a symphony playing, right?

Martha and I are in agreement.

Well, Dorothy, I hope you get some perks being in Emeritus.

Oh, well, on campus I get free parking.

Well, that’s gold.

And free use of the water fountain.

Oh, yeah, in California that’s gold, right?

That is gold in California.

Yeah, I’ve seen students wearing T-shirts that say, tell my professor I’m looking for a parking place.

Hey, thanks for calling.

Thank you so much.

All right, bye-bye.

Bye.

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