Xanthippe

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-Xanthippe.wav

Borrowed from Latin Xanthippē or its etymon Ancient Greek Ξανθίππη (Xanthíppē), the name of Socrates’ wife, from ξανθός (xanthós, “blond; golden, yellow”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱas- (“blond; grey; white”)) + ἵππος (híppos, “horse”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eḱ- (“horse; swift (?)”)). She is described as shrewish in Xenophon’s Symposium, though the same work states that Socrates chose her precisely because of her argumentative spirit. In Xenophon’s Memorabilia and Phaedo by Plato she is depicted as a devoted wife and mother.

der

Be ſhe as foule as was Florentius Loue, / As old as Sibell, and as curſt and ſhrow'd / As Socrates Zentippe, or a worſe: / She moues me not, or not remoues at leaſt / Affections edge in me.

[c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 213, column 1:

RICHARD HOOKER, that rare and admirable Theologiſt, [...] married a clowniſh ſilly Woman and withal a meer Xantippe, [...]

1691, [Anthony Wood], “RICHARD HOOKER”, in Athenæ Oxonienses. An Exact History of All the Writers and Bishops who have had Their Education in the Most Ancient and Famous University of Oxford from the Fifteenth Year of King Henry the Seventh, Dom. 1500, to the End of the Year 1690. […], volume I (Extending to the 16th Year of King Charles I. Dom. 1640), London: […] Tho[mas] Bennet […], →OCLC, column 262:

[page 235] He was prudent and induſtrious, and ſo good a Huſbandman, that he might have led a very eaſy and comfortable Life, had not an errant Vixen of a Wife ſoured his domeſtic Quiet. [...] [page 236] By this Xantippe (ſo was the Wife of Socrates called, ſaid Partridge) By this Xantippe he had two Sons, of which I was the younger.

1749, Henry Fielding, “In which the Man of the Hill Begins to Relate His History”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume III, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VIII, pages 235–236:

Who has not seen the cross looks and peevish temper of the teacher and parent copied, as by a mirror (though we should say without reflection), in the face and disposition of the child? [...] From an unbroken course of such treatment, who would expect any thing but an unbroken line of Nabals and Xanthippes?

1850 September, W. C. Goldthwait, “Power of Expression”, in W. W. Mitchell, editor, The Massachusetts Teacher, volume III, number 9, Boston, Mass.: Samuel Coolidge, […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 286:

What have we seen in our own personal walks through life to make us believe that women are devils? There may possibly have been a Xantippe here and there, but Imogenes are to be found under every bush.

1858, Anthony Trollope, “Louis Scatcherd”, in Doctor Thorne. […], volume II, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 185–186:

The use he [Socrates] made of his domestic trial may be profitably remembered by any that have a Xanthippe to deal with.

1870 July, “Socrates. Part I.”, in Dublin University Magazine, a Literary and Political Journal, volume LXXVI, number CCCCLI, Dublin: George Herbert, […]; London: Hurst & Blackett, →OCLC, page 114, column 1:

The 'kneeling punishment' (罰跪) would seem to be a well recognized mode of enforcing their authority, in use by Chinese Xanthippes, for the proverb says: 'The Henpecked man is obliged to kneel with a lamp on his head [to make it certain that he does not stir] until the morning watch.'

1884 January–February, Arthur H[enderson] Smith, “The Proverbs and Common Sayings of the Chinese. … Puns and Other Linguistic Diversion.—Parodies.”, in The Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal, volume XV, number 1, Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, →OCLC, footnote *, page 14:

(literary, derogatory, dated) An ill-tempered woman.

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg
Phaedo
Plato
Reyer van Blommendael
Socrates
Xanthippe
Xenophon


froe

Abbreviation of obsolete frower, from froward (“turned away”), referring to the orientation of the blade, at right angles to the handle. From late 16th century.

Patch shingles on the barn roof: do we have a maul and froe?

1997, Charles Frazier, chapter 4, in Cold Mountain, London: Hodder and Stoughton, page 88:

A cleaving tool for splitting cask staves and shingles from a block of wood.


froe

1630, Michael Drayton, Nymphal IV, [from The Muses Elizium], 1793, The Works of the British Poets, Volume 3: Drayton, Carew & Suckling, page 618,
Like to thoſe raging frantic froes / For Bacchus' feaſts prepared;

(obsolete) A dirty woman; a slattern; a frow.


Sapphire

I asked her once how a little girl who didn't have blue eyes ended up being called Sapphire. She pursed her lips for a few seconds, clearly wondering how she could get away with not telling me.
'My older brother is called Mistral,' she said in the end. 'My younger sister is Blaze. I'd say I was the lucky one.'
As I say, hippy parents.

2015, Sharon Bolton, Little Black Lies, Corgi Books, →ISBN, page 179:

A female given name from English from the precious stone.


limmer

Uncertain; perhaps from limb, or French limier; see leamer.

Thieves, limmers, and broken men of the Highlands.

1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:


Clare

The anglicized spelling of Irish Clár, from Old Irish clár (“plank, board”), from Proto-Celtic *klāros, *klārom (“table”).

A district municipality in Digby County, Nova Scotia, Canada, named after County Clare.

A number of places in the United States, likely to be named after County Clare:

A city mostly in Clare County, Michigan; after its county and County Clare.


Clarissa

Clarissa
Clarissa (novel)
Samuel Richardson

Borrowed from Italian Clarissa, from Medieval Latin Clarissa; see there for more. Popularized in English by Samuel Richardson's 1748 novel Clarissa. Doublet of Clarisse.

My wife's maiden name—Unmarried name, I should rather say […] was Harlowe—Clarissa Harlowe—you heard me call her my Clarissa—
I did—but I thought it to be a feigned or a love-name, said Miss Rawlins. […]
No—it was her real name, I said.

A female given name from Latin or Italian.


Clarissa

Following Francis' example, Clare founded an order of religious women known as the Poor Ladies of Assisi (like Francis' Poor Men), and later as the Clarissas or Poor Clares in her honor.

1991, Thomas Head, “Clare of Assisi”, in An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers:

In the protomonastero of Santa Chiara in Assisi, erected from the outset for the Clarissas, however, equally frequent changes and modifications in the location of the nuns' choir suggest that there were still uncertainties as to the best place for it.

1992, Caroline A. Bruzelius, “Hearing Is Believing: Clarissan Architecture, ca. 1213–1340”, in Gesta, volume 31, number 2, page 85:

The rule of Urban IV also clarified the nomenclature of the Clarissas, with the pope designating the group as the Order of St. Claire rather than Poor Ladies, or Poor Recluses, of San Damiano.

1995, Caroline A. Bruzelius, “Queen Sancia of Mallorca and the Convent Church of Sta. Chiara in Naples”, in Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, volume 40, page 75:

(Catholicism) Synonym of Poor Clare: a nun of the Order of Saint Clare.


beldame

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-beldame.wav

From late (1400–1450) Middle English bel (“good”), from Old French bel (“beautiful”) + Latin bellus + dam (“mother”), Middle English dame.

Justice is an old hobbling beldame, and I can't get her to keep pace with Generosity, for the soul of me.

1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, IV.i:

[…] have a curiosity to hear my fortune told: therefore, Sam, order the beldame forward.

1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC:

The tablets upon which the events of the day were recorded refer to enchantresses, and we can conclude that they were by no means restricted to ancient beldames.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 25:

Suddenly the beldam shrieks as if she's been stuck with a dagger, long rasping insuck of breath: ‘Eeeeeeeee!’

1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 6:

(now archaic) An old woman, particularly an ugly one.


puerpera

en-noun

puerpera (plural puerperas or puerperae)

Borrowed from Latin puerpera (“woman in labor or childbed”), substantive of puerperus (“parturient, bringing forth children”), from puer (“child, boy”) + pariō (“to bring forth, bear”) + -us (adjectival suffix).

af

An often proved Remedy to bring away what is, or should not be left in the Womb of a Puerpera, though it were Part of a dead Child.

1731, Robert Boyle, Medicinal experiments, volume 3, page 6:

"I must acknowledge, if Kolletschka's disease and the disease from which I saw so many puerperae die, are identical, then in the puerperae it must be produced by the self-same engendering cause, which produced it in Kolletschka."

1860, Henry E. Brady, David Collier, quoting Ignaz Semmelweis, Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 224:

Among the ancient Iranians, the puerpera, like the menstruating woman, was regarded as "unclean".

1885, Hermann Heinrich Ploss, Max Bartels, Paul Bartels, translated by Eric John Dingwall, Woman: an historical, gynæcological and anthropological compendium, page 150:

With the exception of the very nearest, — for instance, the husband and the mother of the puerpera, — visitors should be kept away until she has been out of bed for a few days, and even then admitted only in small numbers and one at a time.

1907, Henry Jacques Garrigues, A Text-book of the science and art of obstetrics, page 243:

(rare) A woman who has recently given birth.


sarong party girl

en-noun

sarong party girl (plural sarong party girls)

(Singapore, derogatory, ethnic slur) An Asian girl who dates a non-Asian, especially a white expatriate.


Clarisse

Borrowed from French Clarisse, from Italian Clarissa, from Medieval Latin Clarissa (“Poor Clare”); see there for more. Doublet of Clarissa and Clarice.

Clara... withdrew herself... to the Church of St. Damian, and there gave beginning to the poor Maids, called from her name Clarisses...

1693, Gabriel d'Emillianne, translated by Antonio Gavin, A Short History of Monastical Orders, page 253:

(Catholicism) Synonym of Poor Clare: a nun of the Order of Saint Clare, sometimes particularly such a nun who followed the original rules of Saint Clare of Assisi.


domme

Alteration of dom with the pseudo-French feminine inflection.

No amount of fetish wear or powerful looking garments can make a domme out of a woman who hasn't worked on her power and grace within.

2005, Midori, Wild Side Sex: The Book of Kink, Los Angeles: Daedalus Publishing, published 2013, →ISBN, page 95:

Something dommes know is that fear can be controlled — and even used to your advantage.

2006, Emily Dubberley, Whip Your Life into Shape, Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing, →ISBN, page 94:

Leather and rubber fetish has always been popular but there’s a massive need for dommes who specialise in foot and shoe worship; there are just not enough of us to go around.

2011, Rebecca, “Rebecca”, in Julian Davies, Hookers: Candid Confessions of Real Call Girls, Milo Books, page 179:

A female dominant in a BDSM relationship.


quaintrelle

Borrowed from Late Middle English queintrelle, queyntrelle (“person of fashion”), from Middle French cointerelle, from Middle French cointerel (“vain”) + -elle, -ele (suffix forming feminine diminutive nouns), possibly influenced by quaint. Cointerel is derived from cointe (“clever, intelligent; quaint”), from Latin cognitus (“known, recognized; acknowledged, noted”), the perfect passive participle of cōgnōscō (“to be acquainted (with), recognize; to learn; to know”), from con- (prefix meaning ‘with’) + (g)nōscō (“to know, recognize”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”) + *-sḱéti (suffix forming durative or iterative imperfective verbs from roots)).

der

It folweth nouht that thouh j be thus kembt and a litel make the queyntrelle that for swich cause j am fair

[c. 1430, Guillaume de Deguileville, chapter XLVII, in [anonymous], transl., edited by William Aldis Wright, The Pilgrimage of the Lyf of the Manhode. From the French (Cambridge University Library, MS Kk.1.7) (in Middle English), London: Printed for the Roxburghe Club; J[ohn] B[owyer] Nichols and Sons, […], published 1869, →OCLC, 3rd part, folio 109, page 160:

It followeth not that though I be thus kempt [neat and tidy], and a little make the quaintrelle, that for such cause I am fair

On this evening, however, Warthrop became as punctilious as the fussiest quaintrelle. I, as his impromptu valet, bore the brunt of his anxiety. His waistcoat was wrinkled. His shoes were scuffed. His cravat was crooked.

2010, William James Henry [pseudonym; Rick Yancey], “‘Ich Habe Dich Auch Vermisst’”, in The Curse of the Wendigo (The Monstrumologist; 2), New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, →ISBN, page 208:

From Rosie the Riveter to Coco Channel^([sic – meaning Coco Chanel]) (in pants!), from Amelia Earhart to the quaintrelle (the female dandy), change in women's dress has symbolized everything from the right and need to work outside the home to wearing pants as a fashion statement to excelling at a profession (even as an aviatrix) to once again claiming the right to cultivate life's pleasures.

2011, Glenda L. Swetman, Alison Trappey, “Principles of Gender-specific Medicine”, in Lawrence Charles Parish, Sarah Brenner, Marcia Ramos-e-Silva, Jennifer L. Parish, editors, Manual of Gender Dermatology, Sudbury, Mass., Mississauga, Ont.: Jones & Bartlett Learning, →ISBN, part I (Primer of Gender Dermatology), page 9:

Her sparkling, hazel eyes emitted a pearly glow … the windows to to an untarnished, unblemished soul. Her spirit was that of a quaintrelle. He was struck by her nuances, which did not seem so subtle after all.

2015, Hrishikesh Joshi, chapter 14, in Checkmate, Mumbai, Maharashtra: Frog Books, →ISBN:

She was the type of woman who deserved to live in a villa or a fancy hotel. The kind of woman you named a star after. A quaintrelle.

2016 February, Christine Reilly, “The Claudio who Promised”, in Sunday’s on the Phone to Monday: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Touchstone, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 70:

His smile becomes the flowering flame, a bunch / Of exquisitely beautiful daisies / Among which dandies and quaintrelles flourish / With parrot and chameleon power in full bloom.

2018 August 31, Felix Bongjoh, Season of Flowers, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN:

[Jean] Painlevé presented Hyas and Stenorhynchus crabs as both masters of disguise—engaging in forms of camouflage or blending into their environment—and undersea dandies and quaintrelles.

2019, James Leo Cahill, “Metamorphoses: Crustaceans, the Coming of Sound, and Plasmatic Anthropomorphism”, in Zoological Surrealism: The Nonhuman Cinema of Jean Painlevé, Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Minnesota Press, →ISBN:

(archaic, rare) A woman who is focused on style and leisurely pastimes.


cum dumpster

The artist collected one hundred used white dress shirts and employed the formal conventions of male fashion to describe the double standards of society’s responses to sex for male versus female teenagers. […] On the back of each shirt, a centerline separated the categories “Male” and “Female.” The male side is articulated by only two adjectives: “stud” and “man.” On the female side is a spill of slanderous words and phrases used to characterize sexually active young women: “whore,” “cunt,” “slut,” “cum-dumpster.”

[1995, Patricia C. Phillips, “Peggy Diggs: Private Acts and Public Art”, in Nina Felshin, editor, But Is It Art? The Spirit of Art as Activism, Seattle: Bay Press, →ISBN, page 308:

“We fucked the shit out of this cum dumpster the other night,” he explains. Oh, I say. The photos show a woman, probably in her early twenties, wearing nothing except for white socks sagging around her ankles.

2001, Ken Baker, Man Made: A Memoir of My Body, New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, →ISBN:

She was unclean, she had let herself be used in the filthiest way, she was a ratty hotel washrag, a cum dumpster.

2004, Tom Wolfe, I Am Charlotte Simmons, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 493:

I would be spending my evening with a nice cum dumpster named Bubbles. Dressed from head to toe in tight black leather, she only had to show me the ball gag in her hand.

2004 April 2, Lord Bumblebee, “Getting Tickled by Bubbles”, in The GW Hatchet, Washington, retrieved 2022-01-30:

I would explain it's because you aid and abet my skeezy ex, the Blowpipe! Devil Girl! The Cum Dumpster! Motorhole!

2007, Alexander Theroux, Laura Warholic, or, The Sexual Intellectual, Seattle: Fantagraphics Books, →ISBN, page 143:

(vulgar, derogatory, offensive, slang) A sexually promiscuous person, usually a woman or bottom, who has sexual relations with men who often ejaculate in their body cavities.


glamourpuss

Perhaps that is what is lacking in the work of the younger glamourpusses around today. Zubin Mehta, for example, strikes me as being in something of a mess.

1968 May, New York Magazine, volume 1, number 5:

Even Joan Collins, that perennial glamourpuss, goes to Barbara for the Daly magic for special occasions.

1991, Sally Moore, The Definitive Diana: An Intimate Look at the Princess of Wales from A to Z:

The person who asked that question was holding some image of the actor as just a glamourpuss affair; she had no idea of what acting is about.

1995, Nicholas Ray, Susan Ray, I Was Interrupted: Nicholas Ray on Making Movies:


bluehair

Compound of blue + hair.
The "elderly person" sense, first documented in the 1980s, refers to the blue rinse once used by older women to conceal grey hair.
The second sense emerged from the stereotypical association of dyed blue hair with social-justice activists.

I have memories from a young age in which my father is yelling about "blue hairs" and their inability to drive. And everyone remembers that scene in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" in which the old lady cannot see over the steering wheel and is swerving down the road.

1997, Karin Vonesh, "Who are the worst drivers of all?", Southwords (Maine South High School, Park Ridge, IL), Volume 34, Issue 7, 19 December 1997, page 3

He'd recently swiped the little orange bottle of OxyContin from the old hag he often watched on Tuesday nights when her cold, indifferent middle-aged daughter played bingo with the other bluehairs from the strip-mall salon she frequented.

2011, Lola Newmar, Devlin's Beast, page 33:

“Anyone can join,” O'Neill says. “We have age ranges from children to blue hairs.”

2019, Chris O'Neill, quoted in Jordan Bradley, "Do Something Different: Try These Alternative Recreation Options", Encore (Michigan), June 2019, page 25

(slang, derogatory or humorous) An elderly person, especially a woman or one viewed as senile, old-fashioned, or out of touch.


weaker sex

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-weaker sex.wav

For a man raised since birth to be strong, resolute, spare with words, and never to bow to the weepings and handwringings of the weaker sex, he had poured out his heart in that letter.

2013, Peter McAra, A World Apart, page 14:

"There's always a reason behind a lie. People can be very good at lying. Women can be especially good at it because they're the weaker sex and we, that's what the books say, and we want to protect them and not have anyone take advantage of them. At least I do," Farese said during closing statements Wednesday.

2017 April 22, “Attorney in Tennessee Rape Trial Says Women are Good Liars Because ‘They’re the Weaker Sex’”, in KTLA5:

(now offensive) Women; the female gender.


blushing bride

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-blushing bride.wav

Originally a reference to a virgin bride who, lacking sexual experience, might be nervous about her wedding night.

My beautiful blushing bride, Sheila here, and I - We have come all the way up here to god’s green country to... Kill you. Clean you. And eat you.

2009, Benjamin Gilton, The Missing Dinner Guests:

Dana Jackson was not your average blushing bride. You see, she went down the aisle on her 100th birthday.

2012, Melissa Locker, “Bride Ties the Knot on Her 100th Birthday”, in Time:


brick house

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-brick house.wav

Possibly coined in 1977 from the song "Brick House" by The Commodores, who took it from the older expression built like a brick shithouse.

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: A house or type of construction made of bricks or blocks of masonry.


sultaness

From Middle English soudanesse. By surface analysis, sultan + -ess.


Minoress

From Medieval Latin minorissa, from Latin minor (“little, lesser”) + -issa (“-ess”), under influence from Norman frere-menouresse and Middle French sereur meneuresse (“lesser sister”), from menour (“minor”) + -esse (“-ess”), after the model of Medieval Latin Fratres Minores (“Lesser Brothers”), chosen by St. Francis to inculcate humility in the order's members. Equivalent to minor + -ess. Doublet of minoress and Sister Minor.

Also I. bequethe to the Religiouse Wommen the Menouresses dwellyngge witħoute algate of london̄, C. s. to be departed amonge [hem] by euene porcion̄, for to synge and rede and to praye diuine seruice for my lordes soule Sir Thomas West, and myn, and for alle christene soules, and for the estates of Thomas my sone, and Iohane his wyf, and for her children.

1395, Alice West, last will and testement, p. 3

These Nunnes were of the order of S. Clare, and called Minoresses.

1631, John Weever, Ancient Funerall Monuments, page 755:

The chief house of the Clares in England stood near Aldgate; it was built by Blanche, queen of Navarre, and her husband Edmund, earl of Lancaster, Leicester and Darby, son to Henry III. and brother to Edward I. These nuns were Urbanists, and enjoyed revenues. They were called Clares or Minoresses, and their house the Minories...

1759, Alban Butler, The Lives of the... Saints, volume IV, page 87:


New Woman

These ladies, actuated by the modern spirit of independence, have yet nothing in common with the “New Woman”—if, which we doubt, this feminine Frankenstein be indeed among us, waiting to fall upon us to our undoing.

1896–1897, Wilhelmina Wimble, “Incomes for Ladies”, in The Lady's Realm, volume 1, page 104:

(historical) An educated, independent feminist of the late 19th century.


hotsy-totsy

en-adj

hotsy-totsy (comparative more hotsy-totsy, superlative most hotsy-totsy)

more hotsy-totsy (comparative)
most hotsy-totsy (superlative)

I could never forget his supercilious sarcasm when I walked out on the practice field of his hotsy-totsy college, and he listened to my Flats accent, and listened to me asking him with Flats words how did I go about playing the game of football for his school.

1952, Lester Dent, Cry at Dusk, MysteriousPress.com/Open Road Integrated Media, published 2012, →ISBN:

[…] and every spring, in the fullness of their benevolence, they sent him and my mother for a hotsy-totsy free weekend in Atlantic City, to a fancy goyische hotel no less, there (along with all the other insurance agents in the Middle Atlantic states who had exceeded the A.E.S., their annual expectation of sales) to be intimidated by the desk clerk, the waiter, the bellboy, not to mention the puzzled paying guests.

1969, Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint, Vintage International, published 1994, →ISBN:

So unlike some of these hotsy-totsy movie stars athletes rappers and rock and roll stars who spend all their money on expensive cars clothes mansions and go bankrupt from excessing, I will not.

1996, Terry McMillan, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Signet, →ISBN:

(slang, usually derogatory) Fancy, sophisticated.


korephile

/ˈkɔːɹɪfaɪl/

/ˈkɔːɹɪfʌɪl/

From the Ancient Greek κόρη (kórē, “girl”) + -φῐ́λης (-phílēs, “-lover”), coined after korephilia and by analogy with paedophile.

compound

For quotations using this term, see Citations:korephile.

(rare) A woman or older female who is erotically attracted toward young (chiefly pre- and/or peripubescent) girls; a lesbian pederast.

parthenophile

a person attracted to young women, virgins


Aunt Thomasina

A feminization of Uncle Tom. See Thomasina.

(derogatory, ethnic slur) A black woman who is obsequiously servile to white authority, a black female race traitor.


Aunt Jane

By analogy with Uncle Tom through use of Jane as a similarly general name in popular culture.


clarissa

Borrowed from Italian clarissa, from Medieval Latin Clarissa; see there for more. Doublet of Clarisse, Clare, and Clarist.

[…] all these obscene references of a sexual nature punctuate the ritualistic prodigality of the Northeast and its winter cycle, and if in the main popular qualification of the character of the clarissa nun called Maria Ermelinda Correia, the composer of the sweet in the mouth of the people, as an expression of her overblown greediness.

2020, Richardo Ferreira de Almeida et al., “Popular Sweets in Douro Valley”, in Advances in Tourism, Technology, and Systems, page 188:

(Catholicism) Alternative letter-case form of Clarissa: a nun of the Order of Saint Clare.


jamette

(Trinidad and Tobago) A sexually promiscuous woman.


women are wonderful effect

the women are wonderful effect (canonical)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-women are wonderful effect.wav

(psychology, sociology) The phenomenon in psychological and sociological research that people seem to associate more positive attributes with women in general than with men in general, reflecting an emotional bias.


Zephyrette

From zephyr (“light wind from the west”) + -ette (suffix forming nouns meaning the female equivalent of something). Zephyr is derived from Latin zephyrus, Zephyrus (“personification of the west wind”), from Ancient Greek Ζέφῠρος (Zéphuros, “personification of the west wind”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃yebʰ- (“to enter, penetrate; to copulate”). Sense 1 (“on-board hostess”) is derived from the California Zephyr train.

der

The Zephyrette then takes the reservations of the Pullman passengers.

1952, David L. Paden, Problems and Economics of Dining Car Service (unpublished M.B.A. dissertation), Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University, →OCLC, page 163:

A good part of the train's personality lay in the Zephyrette, an on-board factotum who, like an airline stewardess, was a mix of hostess, paramedic, tour guide, secretary, nanny, security guard, purser, public relations agent and ombudswoman.

1995, Henry Kisor, Zephyr: Tracking a Dream Across America, New York, N.Y.: Times Books/Random House, →ISBN; republished Holbrook, Mass.: Adams Publishing Group, 1995, →ISBN, page 18:

Zephyrettes were a fixture on the CZ right to the last day of service on March 22, 1970.

1997, Mike Schafer, Joe Welsh, “Triumvirate Triumph: The California Zephyr”, in Classic American Streamliners, Oscola, Wis.: MBI Publishing Company, →ISBN, image caption, page 68:

"Zephyr and Ezekiel, huh?" Tommy had the courage to ask, shaking their hands. The two wooly-headed, intellectual-looking twins laughed. "Well, our dad's name was Zechariah and our mom worked as a Zephyrette on the California Zephyr passenger train," Ezekiel explained. "So I guess you could say they liked the letter z."

2009 October 6, Sean Phelan, Coming of Age, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 246:

(historical) An on-board hostess on the California Zephyr train, which originally operated between 1949 and 1970.

I'm going to select one of those beautiful fast-color Zephyrette patterns for my 'prize' dress.

1908 June, “The Prize Dress [advertisement]”, in James M. Irvine, editor, The Fruit-grower: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine for Progressive American Farmers, volume 19, number 6, St. Joseph, Mo.: The Fruit-grower, →OCLC, page 22 (yearly page 266), column 2:

McCutcheon's Stocks of Ginghams, Linens, Shirtings, Novelty Voiles, Zephyrette, Japanese Crepes, and White materials are always abundant and varied.

1921 February 5, “McCutcheon’s Smart New Fabrics for Spring and Summer Frocks [advertisement]”, in Hamilton Holt, editor, The Independent, volume 105, number 3757, New York, N.Y.: Independent Corporation, […], →OCLC, page 147:

United States Rubber Co. has introduced a lightweight plastic Zephyrette raincoat for women, girls and children.

1953, “Plastic Raincoat”, in Industrial Sports, volume 14, Chicago, Ill.: Allegheny Pub. Co., →OCLC, page 6, column 2:

A lightweight print fabric used for women's dresses.


WOC

the contributions of WOC to the development of rock and roll

Initialism of woman of color or women of color.


like mother, like daughter

(idiomatic) A daughter takes after her mother.

anyja lánya

stating the similarity of a daughter to her mother

the apple does not fall far from the tree


minoress

The chronicler Charles Wriothesley is the sole authority for the marriage of one Mistress Bures, a minoress of some 16 years standing, to the quondam abbot of Walden, Essex in 1538.

1992, Catherine Paxton, The Nunneries of London and Its Environs in the Later Middle Ages, page 302:

(Catholicism) Alternative letter-case form of Minoress: a Poor Clare.


reply girl

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(Internet, historical) A young woman who published video responses to popular YouTube videos, often wearing suggestive clothing, in order to exploit the site's algorithms and receive large amounts of traffic.


en-proverb

one hair of a woman can draw more than a hundred pair of oxen

Women have great influence on their male partners or husbands and can have anything done for them.

women have great influence on their male partners

estira més un pèl de figa que una maroma de vaixell

tira più un pelo di fica che un carro di buoi

literally a pussy hair draws more than a ox-drawn cart

un pelo de concha tira más que una yunta de bueyes


Aunt Jemima

From Aunt Jemima, a stereotypical black mammy used to advertise a popular American pancake mixture brand of the same name. American newspaper managing editor Chris L. Rutt is credited with coming up with the name, inspired by the song “Old Aunt Jemima” (written in 1875) after reportedly seeing a minstrel show featuring it in the fall of 1889. A British image in the Library of Congress, which may have been created as early as 1847, shows a smiling black woman named “Miss Jim-Ima Crow”, with a framed image of “James Crow” on the wall behind her; a character named “Aunt Jemima” appeared on the stage in Washington, D.C., as early as 1864.

Aunt Jemima#Character of Aunt Jemima
Chris L. Rutt
Old Aunt Jemima


a woman's work is never done

From a traditional rhyming couplet, found in at least two forms:
: Man works till set of sun,
: Woman's work is never done.
: From rise of morn to set of sun
: Woman's work is never done.

"Six o'clock, and working still! […] They say a woman's work is never done," remarked Ik Stanton, dropping into the easiest chair in the studio, "and for this reason, were there no other, your muse is evidently of the feminine persuasion."

1878, Edward Payson Roe, chapter 1, in A Face Illumined:

As Professor Myerhoff writes: "The adage 'A woman's work is never done' calls attention to the continuity of woman's tasks on a daily basis."

1979 April 1, Charles E. Silberman, “A Proper Way to Live”, in New York Times, retrieved 2019-07-07:

According to the old maxim, a woman’s work is never done. It certainly never counts, a least not by the economic formulae that figure out the wealth of a nation.

2010 October 30, Antonia Zerbisias, “Feminomics: calculating the value of 'women's work'”, in The Star, Canada, retrieved 2019-07-07:

They say a woman’s work is never done. If certain Brexiteers have their way, that might be truer than ever. […] [A] no-deal Brexit would mean a disastrous shortfall in care staff, which would force women out of the office and into unpaid social care roles, looking after elderly parents.

2018 August 7, Harriet Marsden, “Why should women do the hard, unpaid work after Brexit?”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 2019-07-07:

Women generally work long and hard, especially as they often are responsible for housework and care roles in addition to paid work.


behind every successful man there stands a woman

/bɪˈhaɪnd ˌɛvɹi səkˈsɛsfl̩ ˈmæn ðɛə ˈstændz ə ˈwʊmən/

/bɪˈhaɪnd ˌɛvɹi səkˈsɛsfl̩ ˈmæn ðɛɚ ˈstændz ə ˈwʊmən/

behind every great man there stands a woman

A man’s achievements are made possible by the support and work of their wife or female partner.

وَرَاءَ كُلِّ رَجُلٍ عَظِيمٍ اِمْرَأَةٌ

men's success often depends on the support and work of their wives or female partners

hər uğurlu kişinin arxasında bir qadın dayanır

每个成功的男人背后都有一个女人

měi gè chénggōng de nánrén bèihòu dōu yǒu yīgè nǚrén

jokaisen menestyvän miehen takana on nainen

tout homme qui réussit a une femme derrière lui

detrás dun gran home hai unha gran muller

ყოველი წარმატებული კაცის უკან ქალი დგას

q̇oveli c̣armaṭebuli ḳacis uḳan kali dgas

hinter jedem erfolgreichen Mann steht eine Frau

מאחורי כל גבר מצליח עומדת אישה

meakhoréy kol géver matslíakh omédet ishá

हर सफल पुरुष के पीछे एक महिला होती है

har saphal puruṣ ke pīche ek mahilā hotī hai

di belakang setiap pria sukses ada seorang wanita hebat

すべての成功した男の後ろに女がいる

subete no seikō shita otoko no ushiro ni onna ga iru

aiz katra veiksmīga vīrieša stāv sieviete

už kiekvieno sėkmingo vyro stovi moteris

por trás de todo grande homem existe uma grande mulher

za káždym uspéšnym mužčínoj stoít žénščina

за ка́ждым успе́шным мужчи́ной стои́т же́нщина

detrás de un gran hombre hay una gran mujer

bakom varje framgångsrik man står en kvinna

her başarılı erkeğin arkasında bir kadın vardır

đằng sau một người đàn ông thành công luôn có bóng dáng người phụ nữ

the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world


behind every great man there stands a woman

behind every successful man there stands a woman#English

Synonym of behind every successful man there stands a woman (“men's success often depends on the support and work of their wives or female partners”)


whisper network

en-noun

whisper network (plural whisper networks)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-whisper network.wav

From the fact that the information is secret (whisper) and that it is a connection between multiple people (network).

Bluntly: the Loon is part of the whisper network, because there are a very few librarians and library technologists whose behavior in the Loon’s presence does not incline the Loon to trust them to treat a young, conventionally-attractive female professional like a human being rather than an object of either aggressive sexual interest or airy dismissive scorn. There are a few more the Loon would not trust to treat a queer person like a human being. And just because the Loon cannot presently think of any professional acquaintances capable of consciously racist acts hardly means that there are none.

2014 January 1, The Library Loon, “In which the Loon endorses anti-harassment codes of conduct”, in Gavia Libraria, archived from the original on 2015-04-07:

Since the police and most organizations are completely inept at actually doing anything about allegations of sexualized violence, women often depend on this whisper network to help keep them away from serial harassers and rapists who’ve never been held accountable.

2016 August 5, Siobhan O'Leary, “What do you do when your abuser is part of the whisper network?”, in Against the Grain, Free Thought Blogs, archived from the original on 2016-08-06:

The truth is whisper networks were never meant to be the end-all solution for harassment and abuse; they’re triage. We just want to stop the bleeding.

2018 February 6, Jessica Valenti, “When It Comes to Sexual Harassment, Are Whisper Networks Justified?”, in Marie Claire, Hearst Digital Media, archived from the original on 2020-11-01:

In one of her characteristic ironies, she underlines the necessity of these female whisper networks in Pride and Prejudice by having the heroine Elizabeth disbelieve everything she hears from other women about rake-masquerading-as-virtuous-man George Wickham.

2020 January 22, Elyse Martin, “Jane Austen’s Whisper Networks”, in Electric Literature, Pressable, archived from the original on 2020-08-15:

An informal network of women privately sharing information, typically of people alleged to be sexual harassers, abusers, or rapists.


girls' night out

girls' night out (plural girls' nights out)

A night out for women.
An informal social gathering of women.

An arranged event at a bar or similar venue where only female patrons are allowed.


kadin

From Ottoman Turkish قادین (kadın, “lady, matron, materfamilias; lady consort”).


Poor Clare

The Poor Clares... have also divided into Clarissines and Urbanists.

1883, Encyclopaedia Britannica, volume XVI, page 711:

Following Francis' example, Clare founded an order of religious women known as the Poor Ladies of Assisi (like Francis' Poor Men), and later as the Clarissas or Poor Clares in her honor.

1991, Thomas Head, “Clare of Assisi”, in An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers:

(Catholicism) A nun of the Poor Clares, a member of the Order of Saint Clare.


matrescence

Ultimately from Latin mātrēscēns, mātrēscō (“I become a mother”).

Thomas writes of matrescence as spiritual formation drawing analogies with the Judaeo-Christian tradition.

2013, Denis Walsh, Soo Downe, Intrapartum Care, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 2003:

Matrescence as a distinctive marker of birth centre care is all about fostering the 'becoming mother' journey.

2017, Denis Walsh, Sheila Kitzinger, Norman Ellis, Improving Maternity Services: The Epidemiologically Based Needs Assessment Reviews, Vol 2, CRC Press, →ISBN:

More recently, matrescence has re-entered the contemporary conversation through Alexandra Sacks, a reproductive psychiatrist and researcher, ...

2020, Susan Hogan, Therapeutic Arts in Pregnancy, Birth and New Parenthood, Routledge, →ISBN:

We're here specifically to prepare you for these changes, so that you can take on matrescence as a wise woman. We want you to be calm and excited, ...

2021, Patricia Ladis, The Wise Woman's Guide to Your Healthiest Pregnancy and Birth: From Preconception to Postpartum, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

The process of becoming (and coming to inhabit the role of) a mother.


Urbanist

From Urban + -ist. In reference to Catholic nuns, from the promulgation of a separate rule of conduct by Pope Urban IV.

The chief house of the Clares in England stood near Aldgate; it was built by Blanche, queen of Navarre, and her husband Edmund, earl of Lancaster, Leicester and Darby, son to Henry III. and brother to Edward I. These nuns were Urbanists, and enjoyed revenues. They were called Clares or Minoresses, and their house the Minories...

1759, Alban Butler, The Lives of the... Saints, volume IV, page 87:

(Catholicism) A Poor Clare who follows or advocates the use of revised codes of conduct in place of the original precepts established by Saint Clare.


wine mom

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But the photos very quickly did the rounds, and a man on Twitter decided to use the opportunity to body shame her. “In 10 months Billie Eilish has developed a mid-30s wine mom body,” he wrote.

2020 November 13, Alex Light, Annabelle Spranklen, “Is Billie Eilish's new music video a big FU to the body shamers, stalkers and paparazzi after being targeted for ‘putting on weight’?”, in Glamour:

(Canada, US, informal) A mother who drinks alcohol to relieve the stress associated with parenting.


Clarissian

In 1260, the Clarissians moved to the convent of Santa Chiara in town; afterwards, the church became a Fransciscan friary...

1992, Samuel Kline Cohn, The Cult of Remembrance and the Black Death, page 322:

(Catholicism) Synonym of Poor Clare: a nun of the Order of Saint Clare.


Clarist

His wife desired to enter a convent of Clarists.

1840, Kenelm Henry Digby, Mores Catholici, page 404:

(Catholicism) Synonym of Poor Clare: a nun of the Order of Saint Clare, sometimes particularly one who follows or advocates the original precepts established by St Clare.


Clarissine

From French clarissine, from Clarisse + -ine.


Poor Lady

Originally an epithet of St Clare of Assisi herself.

...his widow became a Poor Lady in the convent of Strala, where she long fulfilled the office of abbess...

The rule of Urban IV also clarified the nomenclature of the Clarissas, with the pope designating the group as the Order of St. Claire rather than Poor Ladies, or Poor Recluses, of San Damiano.

1995, Caroline A. Bruzelius, “Queen Sancia of Mallorca and the Convent Church of Sta. Chiara in Naples”, in Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, volume 40, page 75:


Clarissan

The rule of the Clarissans, who take their name from St Clara, was very strict.

1865, John Malcolm Forbes Ludlow, Women's Work in the Church, page 130:


sister minoress

en-noun

sister minoress (plural sisters minoress)

It appears that Catharine became a sister minoress of the house of Brisyerd, in Suffolk.

1823, William Hutchinson, History and Antiquities of Durham, volume III, page 84:

Alternative letter-case form of Sister Minoress.


Sister Minor

Calque of Medieval Latin sorores minores (“lesser sisters”) and its variants in Norman, Middle French, and Italian. Doublet of Sister Minoress.

cal

...any Graunte by us made unto the Abbas, Covent and Susters Minores withoute Algate of oure Citee of London...

1473, Rolls of Parliament, volume VI, page 78:

(Catholicism, obsolete or historical) Synonym of Poor Clare: a nun of the Order of Saint Clare.


Sister Minoress

en-noun

Sister Minoress (plural Sisters Minoress)

From sister + Minoress, q.v. Doublet of Sister Minor.

...the Abbesse and Covent of the Susters Meneresses withoute Algate...

1451, Rolls of Parliament, volume V, page 224:


Stepford wife

From the 1972 novel The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin (adapted into a 1975 film of the same name), in which a woman moves to the fictional town of Stepford, Connecticut and discovers its eerily docile housewives are android replacements.

Parroting back her husband’s words, by the end of the play, Kate sounds either like a brainwashed member of a bizarre religious cult or a Stepford wife, a woman whose personality has been wiped out and replaced by one more acceptable to her husband.

1995, Regina Barreca, Perfect Husbands & Other Fairy Tales): Demystifying Marriage, Men, And Romance, page 214:

"You can't just sit there and tell me you want Lili to become a 'Stepford wife' at your beck and call. […]

2005, Mollie Molay, An Engagement of Convenience, page 210:

So that prompted me to ask the question: isn’t the ideal Muslim wife in actual fact a Stepford Wife?

2006, Na'ima B. Robert, From My Sisters' Lips: A Unique Celebration of Muslim Womanhood, page 272:

(derogatory) A woman who unquestioningly submits to and serves her male partner, and/or does not seem to have interests, wishes, or pursuits of her own.

Ira Levin
The Stepford Wives
The Stepford Wives (1975 film)


male impersonator

male impersonator (plural male impersonators)

(performing arts) A female entertainer who performs cross-dressed as a man.


Capuchiness

(Catholicism) A member of the Capuchin Poor Clares, a Catholic religious order for women.