Mysteries of vernacular: Lady - Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel
Let’s Begin…
Why do we call women ladies?
Well, etymologically-speaking, the word comes from the Old English
words for hlaf (bread) and daege (maid), which, combined, mean the female
head of the household and eventually indicated high social standing.
Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel follow the word to its contemporary
position simply describing a female.
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What is the word you most often use to describe females? Do you ever use the word lady?
Comments are closed on this discussion.
Lison Hasse
Juvisy Sur Orge, France
Lesson completed
Not being a native English speaker, I guess I would use the term Lady without problem. Female sounds to me very rude, girl too childish. I would probably use the word woman to describe someone who cannot hear me but Lady if the woman in question is around. In French, describing a female as "femme" is immensely disrespectful, the word "Dame" is to be used. That word being more or less the translation of "Lady".
malcolm mobley
Lesson completed
i almost always say girl
Arianna Taylor
Lesson completed
Usually lady, female, woman, girl, she, but lady does seem almost wrong to say....
Baljmaa Zorig
Baljmaa Zorig
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Lesson completed
I often use "female", "woman", and "lady". But after watching this video, "lady" seems disrespectful.
Brent DeJong
Lesson completed
To describe females, I use "wom(a/e)n". "Lady" seems almost disrespectful...
