I have always struggled with the gender of Spanish nouns. Why is a table feminine (LA mesa) when it doesn´t have female genitalia? Why is a toilet masculine (EL servicio) when women sit on them just as much, yet both a crap (LA mierda) and diarrhea (LA diarrea) are both femininely gendered? Why is a woman´s breast masculine (EL pecho), and why is electricity feminine (LA electricidad) when it was invented by a man? Why cant all Spanish objects just be neutral like in the English language, so I don´t always have a 50% change of being correct, and a 50% change of being laughed at.
That said, I have started to notice the gender appropriateness of certain objects as I have continued learning the Spanish language. For example, almost all shops are femine (LA zapateria - shoe shop, LA peluqueria - hairdresser, LA joyeria - jewelers), presumably because it is generally women that spend most time there, whilst football is of course EL futbol. It should also be noted quietly that housework (LA faena) and hoover (LA aspiradora) are both feminine.
Today I also noticed that the word for wife (ESPOSA) is very similar to the word for handcuffs (ESPOSAS), which of course left me wondering if some ancient Spanish wordsmith was trying to suggest a similarity between getting married and the start of a prison sentence.
Does a beer have a penis or a pair of breasts? (Answer = LA cerveza)
