Talk:Arlington National Cemetery
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Is "servicepersons" a word?
Or should I write service persons? And is it proper and respectful to refer to "ex-servicepersons"? Aleta Curry 18:06, 6 February 2008 (CST)
Well, the OED has the analogous "serviceman" either way (or with hyphen); two American dictionaries cited at dictionary.com have "serviceperson". So writing it as one word would seem to be well-precedented. And one of the OED's definitions of a "veteran" is an "ex-serviceman," so I guess "ex-serviceperson" would be analogous to that, though "veteran" is shorter! Bruce M.Tindall 14:54, 22 February 2008 (CST)
- The military says "servicemen and women", as in both "servicemen" and "servicewomen". You can also say "Servicemembers". --Robert W King 15:34, 22 February 2008 (CST)
- Okay, happily confused, now! :) Aleta Curry 15:59, 22 February 2008 (CST)