The tendency to use the word "humans" to refer to mankind damages our self-understanding, and it's used, thoughtlessly I believe, by even the most refined thinkers in these ideological days of ours.
My husband and I always point this out to each other—he always puts on a funny robot voice to show how ridiculous it sounds. I’ve noticed people using it in captions on social media posts—“my favorite human”—so awkward!
Great points about the meaning and usage of "humans." However, English is a unique language from others in that we don't have another, inclusive word to refer to "human being", distinct from "man" which also refers to "male human being."
Greek has anthropos and andros. Russian has chelovek and muzh. Latin has homo and vir. See what I mean? I'm not an English expert so I don't know, maybe there was some better word than "human" that we used in the past to refer to a person (encompassing both/either male and female).
My husband and I always point this out to each other—he always puts on a funny robot voice to show how ridiculous it sounds. I’ve noticed people using it in captions on social media posts—“my favorite human”—so awkward!
Great points about the meaning and usage of "humans." However, English is a unique language from others in that we don't have another, inclusive word to refer to "human being", distinct from "man" which also refers to "male human being."
Greek has anthropos and andros. Russian has chelovek and muzh. Latin has homo and vir. See what I mean? I'm not an English expert so I don't know, maybe there was some better word than "human" that we used in the past to refer to a person (encompassing both/either male and female).