A commenter, asks -- responding to my use of the word -- "What's a groomsmaid?" I take it that the commenter isn't really puzzled by what this means, but suggests that either the title or the role is somehow inapt. Another commenter follows with, "Bride, Groom, Best Man, Maid of Honor, Matron of Honor, Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, Ring Bearer, Flower Girl, plus an assortment of juniors of some of the above. That exhausts my list of wedding titles."

Is it really that odd for people to choose close friends of the opposite sex as their attendants at the wedding, and treat them this way rather than symbolically assigning them as attendants to the other spouse? (One way to tell, for instance, is if the groomsmaids are wearing dresses that don't match the bridesmaids' dresses.) Or is it just that "groomsmaid" (or "bridesman") is an odd title for it, even when used somewhat jocularly? I realize that it's probably still more common for one's dearest and oldest friends to be of the same sex as one rather than of the opposite sex, but I would think that there would be a sizeable minority of people who depart from this norm. Though maybe I'm wrong; "groomsmaid" gets only a titch over 500 real hits in Google (though it's initially billed as having over 12,000 hits), and bridesman gets only a bit over 900.

I should mention that I had two groomsmaids at my wedding (as well as my brother as best man). I was also a bridesman for each of them, one before and one after, though my identity as being a bride's attendant wasn't as clear, since I wore the same kinds of tuxes as the groom's attendants. It was therefore plausible just to treat all the men in the wedding as generic "attendants" rather than being divided into groomsmen and bridesmen.

In any case, I'd love to hear others' experiences and perceptions on this subject.