Do women tend to use the word lovely more often than men do?
And also, should men rather avoid using this word when describing something they liked?
Meta: I hope this question doesn't sound too sexist (though to an extent it is, of course).
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this communityDo women tend to use the word lovely more often than men do?
And also, should men rather avoid using this word when describing something they liked?
Meta: I hope this question doesn't sound too sexist (though to an extent it is, of course).
Yes, according to renowned linguist Robin Lakoff in her seminal book Language and Woman's Place lovely is indeed a word that tends to be used more by women than by men:
There is a group of adjectives which have, besides their specific and literal meanings, another use, that of indicating the speaker's approbation or admiration for something. Some of these adjectives are neutral as to sex of speaker: either men or women may use them. But another set seems, in its figurative use, to be largely confined to women's speech. Representative lists of both types are below:
neutral: great, terrific, cool, neat
women only: adorable, charming, sweet, lovely, divine
On Gender-Related Differences in Daily Communication of English is a good overview of Lakoff's work and of more recent research.
If this site (EL&U) is representative of the whole of English, then yes. Women do use it; I can't recall reading one example of a man using it. (Not that it hasn't been used; I just haven't seen it.) However, Benedict Cumberbatch swears a lot and still says lovely.
Which I think is lovely, of course.