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stranger
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OP
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
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
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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
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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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
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
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Post deleted by inselpeter
Last edited by inselpeter; 11/15/05 04:00 PM.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
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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.
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2005
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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.
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stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Nov 2005
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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.
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veteran
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veteran
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squench
A southern recombination of squaw and wench, most often mildly flattering.
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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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.
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