Looking Back: Back in the day women were called almost anything!

You don’t often actually hear younger men refer to their wives or partners nowadays as ‘Our old lass’ ‘The wife’ or ‘The missus’ I don’t think women today would stand for it.

But back in the day, women were often called almost anything except their actual names.

‘The boss’ ‘er indoors’ ‘she who must be obeyed’, ‘old lady ‘and ‘ball and chain’ were all common descriptions of a mans loved one. In the Sheffield area it was quite common for a man to refer to his wife as ‘Our Gert’ which, it seems is a dialectal expression used in some parts of the UK and apparently a term of endearment!

There has been some quite dreadful ways of describing women, often younger women. ‘Birds’ ‘Eye candy’ ‘Crumpet’, Cougar, Gold-digger, Trophy wife, Blonde bombshell and Bimbos’ have been and often still are names used about women by sexist dinosaurs.

Words have often changed in meaning and at women’s expense. Hussy was once the female head of a household but then changed to mean a disreputable woman of ill repute.

Tart was short for sweetheart centuries ago, but then for some reason nowadays is used to mean a female of immoral character.

And older women who try to make an effort with clothes and makeup could be referred to as ‘mutton dressed as lamb.’ By other women too, I might add!

We’ve all heard expressions used by men to other men like – ‘Don’t be such a girl’ and ‘You’re acting like a bitch’

Actually, women can laugh no matter what they are called! It was William Golding author of ‘Lord of the Flies’ who famously said ‘I think women are foolish to pretend that they are equal to men. They are far superior and always have been!’

It can be annoying though. A bar in Manchester has a sign outside advertising ‘Open for Booze, Beat and Birds’

(Is it because women often catch worms?)

But I could laugh at the man who introduces his wife as ‘My first wife’ He says it keeps her on her toes!!’