If say one party has agreed to paint a shed and is now getting nagged by the nagger to do it. Is there a term better than "nagger"?
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Fishwife could be relevant if the context is right...
Or just a nag (rather than a nagger.) |
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Noun scold (“A person fond of abusive language, in particular a troublesome and angry woman”) also is relevant. (Note, wiktionary tags it as obsolete.) |
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Interestingly, many terms for "one who nags" (including fishwife and scold, nominated above) apply solely or primarily to a woman—a phenomenon that I can't say does our language proud. Other terms of this type include hen (whence hen-pecked), shrew, termagant, harridan, harpy, and (a Yiddish term) klippeh. Given their sex bias, I would advise against using any of them. Fortunately, Yiddish also offers three excellent and more-or-less gender-neutral terms: kvetcher, nudnik, and noodge, the last of which I use regularly. If you're limited to plain English, I second the previous suggestions of nag and pest. |
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"needler", "nettler", "harrasser", and my favorite, "haranguer" (from harangue) in this context: verb [with object] lecture (someone) at length in an aggressive and critical manner, "he harangued the public on their ignorance" |
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