an adult human female.
This screenshot shows what used to appear when you searched for "woman synonyms" via Google.
Maria Beatrice Giovanardi was outraged by this, and launched a petition to get the more patriarchal, patronising and insulting words taken out of the list. The petition attracted wide publicity. Some people signed the petition, and some people said but you mustn't change either reality or history. And they all had a point.
Perhaps because of the petition, this is what you get now:
| lady, girl, member of the fair/gentle sex, female;
matron, dowager;
lass, lassie;
colleen;
yorga;
informalchick, girly, filly, biddy;
informalbird, bint, popsy;
informalbesom, wifie;
informaldame, broad, gal, jane, sister;
informalsheila;
informalJudy;
informalfrail;
humorousthe female of the species;
derogatorypiece, bit, mare, baggage;
offensivebitch;
literarymaid, maiden, damsel, demoiselle;
archaicwench;
archaicgentlewoman, petticoat
It's a compromise, but rather a clever one, I think.
Word To Use Today: dictionary. This word comes from the Latin dictiōnārium, a collection of words, from dictō, word.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are very welcome, but please make them suitable for The Word Den's family audience.