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baston or palo
I live in Mexico, but a gringo, but my wife is Mexican. I just asked her and her sister and they both said Actriz.
www.decathlon.es
Interesting! I'm from Spain and never heard the word "palo" used like that. A lemon tree is a "limonero" and a shot of any drink is "un chupito" over here.
I’ve never heard “un limonero” or “un chupito”, either! As for palo as a tree, it may be a fruit bearing tree, like “un palo de mangó”, “un palo de aguacate”, but not with other trees, like “un roble”, “una palma”. Not sure how much of this is colloquial, but it is very informal, as the formal way would be “un árbol de limón”. I’m from PR (one of Spain last colonies” with heavy Andalucian and Canarian influence, so I don’t know about how it is in other regions of Spain. Coincidentally, I just learned this morning that in Mexico, “palo” has a different meaning, as in “a fling” but a bit more explicit, so saying “quiero un palo” in Mexico might have unintended outcomes. Not sure if this varies by region, but it goes to show how rich is our language. I’m actually trying to brush up on Spain slang and colloquial expressions, it’s a great topic! Un saludo desde FL, USA!
It will be educational. Back when I was in college I read a story called “El Espanol de Hispanoamerica,” about this Spaniard who was living in the United States and tired of struggling with English, moved to Mexico, and started having all kinds of problems because of misunderstandings, and so he tried moving to other countries like Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, and there was all kinds of misunderstandings, many of them hilarious, because of differences in the local colloquial language, so he won up returning to the United States. It was a very funny story, but very illuminating. I’m currently following an Instagram page called DialectoBoricua, talking about the origins of some of our slang words, sometimes comparing our slang with that of other countries. (For those that don’t know, “Boricua” is what PRs call ourselves, derived from the indigenous name Borikén which is what the Taino people called the island).
I think you answered your own question. The idea, I believe, is to hopefully move towards a society where professions and the words we use for them don't have gender assumptions built in. Where actresses aren't seen as fundamentally different than actors. Where nurses aren't assumed to be women and doctors aren't assumed to be men. If you don't have different words for men and women teachers, why should you have different words for men and women actors?
The thread started with questions specifically about terms in Spanish which does make such a distinction. As do a number of other languages such as French and German.
True. But linguistic gender is much more fundamental to Spanish than it is to English, where it survives only in pronouns and a few archaic professional terms. And as the thread evolved to discuss, there is a move in Spanish away from these gender distinctions in at least some Spanish terms referring to professions, just as there is in English. Bert was saying he didn't know why English moved away from "actress". I was pointing out the explanation that was implicit in his own statement.
El enfermero / la enfermera
The OP asked about spoken Spanish in Spain and I hope she won't mind a bit of thread drift into written Spanish in Spain.
Check No. 23: "palo" means tree in Costa Rica, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic.
)In Spain it doesn't really mean anything. "Coge un palo", on the other hand, means "grab a stick". A perfectly safe thing to say.
Not in Spain. "Una actor" is just incorrect because you're pairing a feminine article with a masculine noun. "Una actora" means something else, but someone else has already explained it.
There isn't a simple solution that works for all nouns, so people are trying different things. In many cases, the solution is to just say both "actores y actrices", sometimes, another word is used ("la ciudadanía" instead of "los ciudadanos"). Sometimes a new ending in -e is used to include non-binary (todos, todas y todes) 
Not an easy issue!
I would say that as society changes, we are trying to “retrofit” (for lack of a better word) these issues like gender awareness into an old language, and that can be unwieldy and awkward. Maybe you’ve watched “Linguriosa” in YouTube, she has some fascinating videos on how the Spanish language (and others) have evolved over the centuries. After all, “la lengua de Cervantes” no es la misma que era entonces. Being that I’m older, it’s hard for me to wrap my head around some of these changes, as they don’t always seem to be “organic” but more like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, just my opinion. But it’s not up to me to decide what future generations do with the language, because with new awareness of issues, it can be challenging to adapt a language to an evolving reality, and that can cause confusion, misunderstandings, and friction.There is certainly a movement for a more gender neutral language in Spanish, but I haven't heard of female actors being referred to as "actores" in Spain. As far as I'm aware, they still go by "actrices".
Regarding new more gender neutral plural forms, it's work in progress
You are absolutely correct, coger un palo means “grab a stick”, but in PR, “date un palo” or “dame un palo” means “have a drink” or “give me a drink”.
Thanks for your post, it is important to hear from a native speaker. You referred to one phrase above that I was afraid might be rude, and you have said it is innocent, so thanks for that.Check No. 23: "palo" means tree in Costa Rica, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic.
And No. 24: "palo" means shot of drink in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic & Venezuela.
https://dle.rae.es/palo
RAE doesn't permit or ban words. They simply document what is being used and make recommendations for better usage of the language.
The problem with Latinx and Amig@ is that they cannot be pronounced, they only work in writing (and I don't see why we need the word "cuerpa"
In Spain it doesn't really mean anything. "Coge un palo", on the other hand, means "grab a stick". A perfectly safe thing to say.
Not in Spain. "Una actor" is just incorrect because you're pairing a feminine article with a masculine noun. "Una actora" means something else, but someone else has already explained it.
There is certainly a movement for a more gender neutral language in Spanish, but I haven't heard of female actors being referred to as "actores" in Spain. As far as I'm aware, they still go by "actrices".
Regarding new more gender neutral plural forms, it's work in progress
. 
C'mon, give us a clue. Here in Dublin on the Luas I hear something in Gaelic that sounds like African Shop. It means get off at the next stop for the main street shops!
Took me a few moments too. Obviously a different language north and south of the Forth and the Clyde...
. Poles are bastones in Spanish, in the same sense what and elder would use is a bastón, not a palo. Traditionally when refering to a collective of people, Spanish uses the masculine gender as neutral. But as Spain is getting more and more concerned about gender equality in the last decade, this is also translated to language issues. Spain is an advanced country in what concerns to gender questions. A group of youth would be some decades ago un grupo de chicos, these days is more common to say un grupo de chicos y chicas.
Only time will tell which changes become permanent and which disappear...
I’m only about 25 miles from Motherwell and I was baffled by “squirrel ink” until I said it out loud when it made perfect sense. Square or link is commonly asked when you order sausage in Scotland.
Mary Doll, of course! Who else but us can work it out!
What would I give for a square sausage right now!
It is worthwhile noting that the Spanish language differs regionally. In my Spanish learning recently it is repeatedly being brought to my attention that the verb "coger" is used in many expressions and sentences in Spain where it would be avoided in Latin American Spanish, because of it having very different connotations there. So, feel free to use it innocently on Camino in Spain. But be prepared for raised eyebrows if any Latin American Hispanohablantes are listening.
It was certainly a noticeable moment of progress for me when I could watch Linguiosa's videos and feel I was understanding the language. It helps that linguistics is an interest of mine.
My regular Saturday lunchtime treat is a roll in square sausage with tattie scone and brown sauce. Doesn’t do much for the waistline but tastes great.Mary Doll, of course! Who else but us can work it out!
But isn't it usually clear from the context what a speaker means? Like @Kirkie and presumably others I feared that the mysterious expression would be rude and/or have a sexual connotation so it was good to hear from a competent Spanish speaker from Spain that it is not the case.
All I know is that in quite a number of episodes of the "Se Habla Español" podcast I've been listening to, where he is analyzing clips of Latin American speakers, he specifically discusses expressions they use in their speech and says in essence "We, in Spain, use the verb coger here but they don't in Latin America because of its sexual connotation and use this other verb that the speaker has used instead." So, while I'm sure it is clear from context what you mean and I'm confident that a Latin American listener wouldn't hold it against you, it seem that the connotation is strong enough to create a difference in verb usage in Latin America. I'm sure it isn't rude and doesn't have a sexual connotation in Spain. But I'm not as sure when a Latin American is listening.But isn't it usually clear from the context what a speaker means? Like @Kirkie and presumably others I feared that the mysterious expression would be rude and/or have a sexual connotation so it was good to hear from a competent Spanish speaker from Spain that it is not the case.
I often wonder why such expressions are even brought into a thread. I am then reminded of the time when my kid was in primary school and they giggled about the word "knob".
But isn't it usually clear from the context what a speaker means? Like @Kirkie and presumably others I feared that the mysterious expression would be rude and/or have a sexual connotation so it was good to hear from a competent Spanish speaker from Spain that it is not the case.
I often wonder why such expressions are even brought into a thread. I am then reminded of the time when my kid was in primary school and they giggled about the word "knob".
Well, that "coger" subjet always appears when chatting with latin american relatives visiting their family at home land, specially if they are young and from countries where that word has sexual connotations. Many Spaniards do have relatives in America. But when visiting Spain, latin americans perfectly know how often Spaniards use that verb without any sexual connotations and they shouldn't be surprised for listening sentences with coger.
We wanted to stay at El Palo del Avellano in Zubiri - the "Hazelnut Stick" albergue - but they were fully booked at the time.
. Perhaps because the hazelnut shrub (scientific name is Corylus avellana) does not grow naturally all over Spain but mainly along the northern border? 
Yes, makila is a common noun that simply means palo or bastón un Euskera, but means also that kind of ceremony pole that transmits respect or authority. Could be coincidence, but in Berria newspaper , in our only national newspaper in euskera (spread and red in both sides of the administrative border), there is today an article about the ceremony makila. It's easy to translate automatically to your language when opening in Chrome. https://www.berria.eus/bizigiro/makilaren-heldulekuak_2123636_102.htmlWe wanted to stay at El Palo del Avellano in Zubiri - the "Hazelnut Stick" albergue - but they were fully booked at the time.
I learnt from their website that the wood of this shrub has "so often been used as a support stick by many pilgrims on their way to Santiago, without doubt a really useful, simple and essential tool for the traveller of all times in our history".
Hazelnut wood has also been used for making walking sticks in other regions of Europe, for example in the Alps. The DE Wikipedia says that it is used for making the traditional Basque walking stick called Makila but the EN Wikipedia says they use the wood from medlar trees.
And yet walking sticks are called bastones in Spain
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I took it to mean the Hazelnut tree, but upon reflecting on your words, it makes sense that it’s the stick.We wanted to stay at El Palo del Avellano in Zubiri - the "Hazelnut Stick" albergue - but they were fully booked at the time.
I learnt from their website that the wood of this shrub has "so often been used as a support stick by many pilgrims on their way to Santiago, without doubt a really useful, simple and essential tool for the traveller of all times in our history".
Hazelnut wood has also been used for making walking sticks in other regions of Europe, for example in the Alps. The DE Wikipedia says that it is used for making the traditional Basque walking stick called Makila but the EN Wikipedia says they use the wood from medlar trees.
And yet walking sticks are called bastones in Spain
View attachment 168324
Thank you! It had not known how these patterns are created on the wooden sticks - the machine translation describes it as "wounds turned into scars". How interesting, that must be quite unique!
Just my thoughts but I don't think so. As we said, in Spain is a normal verb with no naughty connotations, so it is used normally and with everyone, even if you know how it is used in other countries.
Yes you' re right. " coja su ticket" is the way we say it. " tome su ticket" is the way in Latinoamerica. There are many inmigrants from this area in Madrid, so maybe " tome su ticket" is for them.
