Questions tagged [feminine]
The feminine tag has no usage guidance.
21 questions
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What do we use ‘Ms.’ or ‘Mrs.’ when we write about a person whose marital status we don’t know? [duplicate]
Also, What if we have a general idea about the the marital status of a person. Especially, in the case of ‘Mrs.’, if we seem to have a good idea about the marital status of a woman, can we write ‘Mrs.’...
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4
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Is there a female or gender neutral equivalent for the verb to sire?
Is there a good equivalent for to sire I could use for a woman who mothered a child? Obviously other than to mother itself.
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2
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The Grim Reaper, death itself/herself/himself? [closed]
I want to write a sentence about the Grim Reaper (symbolism for death). I have this sentence -
The commander winced, almost if he thought Death herself came to collect him and Mary.
Somewhere I ...
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2
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Why do lion, tiger, panther, and leopard have female forms (lioness, tigress, pantheress, leopardess), but jaguar, puma, cheetah, and cougar don't?
Lion, tiger, panther, and leopard have female forms: lioness, tigress, pantheress, leopardess, but jaguar, puma, cheetah, and cougar don't.
Jagress? Pumess? Cheetess? Cougress? Those aren't words.
Is ...
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128
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Is the -ie suffix commonly associated with femininity?
Is it valid to assume that the -ie suffix is commonly associated with femininity? Say, we take a word like owl and add the suffix, so we get owlie. Would a person whose native language is English be ...
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3
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191
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Pair like man/woman but clearly for sex not gender [closed]
If I want to distinguish social (or linguistic) gender and biological sex in a text, is there any polar pair of terms that clearly refers to organisms with a specific sex and not (also) to persons ...
3
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Lavatory — US terms used in the 1950s
I am trying to find out what would be natural terms to refer to the lavatory in the US in the 1950s. I am specifically interested in how a woman who was a teenager at that time in a poor working class ...
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Do there exist male names that derive from female names in English?
I've seen a lot of female names that are simply derivatives of male names, mostly of biblical origin:
Michaela, Michelle from Michael, Michel
Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Jane, Jean from John, Jean
...
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When I'm referencing a undefined person, when should I use "she" or "he"? [duplicate]
This is something I realized in some text I read (books and articles), I don't identify it when speaking to people. When a pronoun is used replacing an undefined person sometimes "he" is used (I would ...
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Is there one word that means female car enthusiast? [closed]
There are words like gear head, speedophile, car nut etc. that are all gender neutral, however, I am creating a support group or a common interest linkup for women who have a passion for cars.
I am ...
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1
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765
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What's the appropiate pronoun for a program named after a woman? [closed]
In a technical document introducing an operating system named after a famous woman, I have to refer to the OS itself. I've consistently used "it/its" but some sentences sound a little weird.
Is it ...
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Genders for arbitrary occupations [duplicate]
Let's say I have a sentence similar to
When a scientist publishes results, she must be careful to not enter the incorrect data.
However, I am confused as to what I should use in place of the "she"...
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1
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147
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What is the future for the Word *"Womyn"*? [closed]
The Word "womyn" has an interesting and debated history. It has become ever more pertinent since it's creation. My question is: Does "womyn" have a future?
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Is "take a leak" considered only masculine or is it okay if women use it too?
And if it can also be used by women, I still feel vulgar using it.
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"Was it a girl?" or "Was that a girl?"
Here's a conversation.
"I saw a salesperson there"
"Was it a girl?"
Is it OK to use "it" when you refer to the salesperson?
Or should you use "that" instead ...
8
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1
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Is "woman" really interchangable with "female" as an adjective?
I listen to BBC Radio 4 a fair bit. They pretty much always use "woman" as opposed to "female" - like "a woman pilot".
To me this just sounds completely wrong, and most stuff I can find online about ...
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3k
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Female equivalent for "wet dreams"? [closed]
As I understand, the term wet dreams applies only to masculine gender? Then, unless it's unisex in nature, is there a specific term applicable to feminine gender?
2
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3
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Female equivalent of "bachelor"? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the word for an unmarried female?
What is the word for an unmarried female?
The above closed question is unanswered as bachelorette implies both unmarried and divorced/...
2
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4
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31k
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Origin of 'fairer sex'
I've seen the term 'the fairer sex' being used in a number of areas to refer to females. How did they get that title?
What does 'fairer' refer to in this case?
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0
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101
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When to use the feminine form when referring to a person? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Tendency of using pronouns 'she/her' when talking about a random person
I was never interested in grammar and English in school. Now that I am older, I am finding it ...
3
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1
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526
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Which words of foreign origin kept a distinctive feminine?
The feminine of confidant is confidante, probably due to the French origin of the word (confident, whose feminine is confidente). I wonder which other words of foreign origin commonly used in English ...