"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

Friday 17 July 2009

Xanthippe and muliebrity

 
Today we have two words for the price of one... a sort of BOGOF.

A Xanthippe was an archaic term for a shrewish, bad-tempered, scolding woman. It is derived from Xanthippe who was the wife of Socrates and mother of their three sons and who had a reputation as a harridan.

Muliebrity, a rarely found word that deserves greater usage, means femininity; the trait of behaving in ways considered typical for women; specifically relating to the characteristic of feminine softness that is entailed by the traditional view of feminine form; the opposite of virility.

Obviously a Xanthippe was not noted for her muliebrity.
 

1 comment:

  1. You have learned to "work it", haven't you SS!
    Better safe than sorry. :)

    ReplyDelete