rapist

why isn't it called a raper? asks Naomi Lifejoy (St. Paul's Pioneer Press). "It seems that some words that describe what people do have an 'ist' at the end, and they command a certain degree of respectability, such as scientist, archeologist, biologist, balloonist. Rapist sounds like too soft a word to me. We say robber, not robbist; killer, not killist; abuser, not abusist. Why then do we not say raper, rather than rapist?" A comparison of prestigious "-ist" words (dentist, scientist, therapist, geneticist, ophthalmologist, gynecologist, metallurgist) with criminal "-er" words (murderer, slayer, poisoner, strangler, sniper, knifer, slaughterer, destroyer, bloodshedder, shoplifter, mugger, stalker) supports Lifejoy's point. See also man-hater/woman-hater, rape, rape victim, violence.