Butcher, Butchette, or Butchina?

"What do you call a female butcher?" I wondered aloud to my husband as I wrapped my fringe-y scarf around my neck.

He paused while putting on his coat for a moment and replied, "A butcher."

"Yeah, in a generic sense maybe," I said rubbing my eye where I accidentally poked myself with the end of my scarf's fringe, "but shouldn't she be a butchette or at least a butchina?"

"Nah, she's just a butcher. Same as a guy butcher is called. Butcher is a unisex term."

I usually defer to my husband in these types of situations because I have a tendency to make up words and insist that they are not only real, but the correct term as well.

Still rubbing my eye, I said "Huh. Maybe you are right. Maybe butcher is a unisex term."

Something bothers me about the word butcher. I simply doesn't sit well with me that both male and female butchers are called the same thing. And, now that I think about it, I believe that a female butcher is a butchette. Pretty sure I heard that on Jeopardy! last Spring.

Buttoning up my bright pink wool coat, I give it one last go with my husband. "I'm positive that a female butcher is called a butchette. I remember Alex Trebek saying so last Spring on Jeopardy! I distinctly remember it because Alex was wearing a paisley tie and some of the paisleys contained a just a touch of burgundy. And you know how much I adore Alex in burgundy. He looks so dapper."

As with a solid eighty-three percent of our conversations, my husband sighs loudly to avoid losing his patience with me. "You did not hear it on Jeopardy! because you made up the word butchette a minute and a half ago. A female butcher is simply called a butcher. End of story."

Still rubbing my eye because that fringe hurt, I state "Okay. Maybe I made up the word butchette, but hear me out. Butcher could totally be the male form of the word because it ends in -er. Kinda like a widower is male and a widow is female. Which I guess makes a female butcher … I don't know … butch?"

"Just get in the car."

For the record, I looked it up and found no female version of the word butcher, which means that Alex Trebek never said butchette. He still looks very dapper in burgundy though.

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