|
|
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 22
stranger
|
|
stranger
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 22 |
I am looking for feminine alternatives for oaf, lout, dolt, boor, and similar archaic discriptors. These words are not specifically masculine, but they always seem to be applied solely to men and - to my ears at least - sound inappropriate when applied to women. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Dean
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
There are no feminine equivalents because there is no sense having a word to describe something that doesn't exist.
(Oh, hi, dear, I didn't see you standing behind me while I was typing.)
TEd
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,773 |
Dean: It does seem to be a form of reverse sexism, doesn't it
How about dingbat? a term often applied to the fem
dalehileman
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
Post deleted by inselpeter
Last edited by inselpeter; 11/15/2005 4:00 PM.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
fishwife; shrew; the b-word that rhymes with witch;
had to go to the thesaurus for these: scold; fury; harpy; termagant; virago
Edit: sorry; didn't think.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 270
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 270 |
harpy, that's a good one! I also found "frump" - woman who dresses in an untidy manner. There are a lot of words for "a quarrelsome woman", and I mean a lot! women must have been really nasty (euphemism) in medieval times eh? (I'm expecting a reply "what makes you think they are any different nowadays?"  ) ... but that seems far off from the poster's intent.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 22
stranger
|
|
stranger
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 22 |
It occurs to me that I should explain why I need these words, which is not to hurl them about in everyday use. (I'm not that sexist, I hope.) I'm writing a sequel to my first YA novel, SKY CARVER (shameless plug), and one of the characters uses colorful language. The setting is not contemporary or USA so I am using archaic terms. She (my character) has used oaf, dolt, lout, boor, and many other wonderful words that have slipped from common usage. But I'm suddenly in the situation where she needs to apply them to a woman.
There are some good suggestions here, though shrewishness is not the sense I'm looking for so much as oafishness (clumsy, lacking grace). Droud is interesting. I must look up its derivation. It may be too obscure to pass my editor's muster.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,529
veteran
|
|
veteran
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,529 |
squench
A southern recombination of squaw and wench, most often mildly flattering.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 270
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 270 |
Quote:
Droud is interesting. I must look up its derivation. It may be too obscure to pass my editor's muster.
It probably is too obscure. Hadn't found it in any popular online dictionary.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
> Droud is interesting. I must look up its derivation. It may be too obscure to pass my editor's muster. < also, Larry Niven seems to have used droud in a completely different sense : a wire providing current directly to the pleasure center of the brain. almost all of the words in the GD come from two source books; this one seems to be from Elster's There's a Word for It!, which he lists with the given def'n and without attribution. it's not in OED or W3; but my Old and Cheap unabridged gives "a codfish [Scot.]" -- I suppose this might have been extended to a fishwife sense. anyway, I tried "oafish woman" in OneLook's reverse dictonary and got several pages worth of results.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 22
stranger
|
|
stranger
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 22 |
The Reverse Dictionary is a great source - many thanks!
Wench in its archaic sense would work, with clumsy prefixed (you clumsy wench), but the modern connotation of wench implies a frisky or sexy nature that isn't appropriate. It's those little nuances that make it so interesting, and so difficult.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 270
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 270 |
Quote:
The Reverse Dictionary is a great source - many thanks!
I have to echo that statement.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
I am using archaic terms. She (my character) has used oaf, dolt, lout, boor, and many other wonderful words that have slipped from common usage. But I'm suddenly in the situation where she needs to apply them to a woman.
Cow? Edit: just checked your bio, Dean; looks like 50% of your state is enrolled here now. 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
I can see the challenge. Many of the feminine insult words have gained an additional sexual meaning or mean bad tempered rather rather than graceless. Lump might work. Or besom, I think it just meant woman before turning into an insult. Hag or crone are more about looks and age.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
Quote:
Edit: just checked your bio, Dean; looks like 50% of your state is enrolled here now.
and don't forget dellfarmer, must mean 75%... 
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 203
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 203 |
Not quite it, but slattern comes to mind.
If all else fails you might append a feminine suffix to some of these words, like loutette, doltress, and so on.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 22
stranger
|
|
stranger
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 22 |
Quote:
If all else fails you might append a feminine suffix to some of these words, like loutette, doltress, and so on.
 This is more appropriate than you realize. My character is constantly creating insults (thickwit, dungherd, steambrain). Feminizing a few insults fits right in.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 500
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 500 |
I'd like to see "witch", "hag" and "crone" removed from the list of acceptable insults. I'm a witch - a practitioner of witchcraft - and these are all terms from the Craft. I consider using them as insults on a par with using "Jew" as a term for "cheat". That used to be acceptable and is now recognized as a slur.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
heh - but witch can be a term of significant endearment to those of us who like being under a spell
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 500
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 500 |
Zed, thank you. Mav - that's a use of witch that I can live with.
|
|
|
|
|
