WOMAN (noun)
- wife or girlfriend: a wife, female lover, or girlfriend (informal) (sometimes offensive)
Microsoft Encarta 2009
According to Garner's Modern English Usage (GMEU), the linguist Raysor Hancock observed in 1963 that Americans are divisible into three groups when it comes to using lady instead of woman: (1) in preference to woman for female adults of any social class (a group that has steadily dwindled); (2) only in reference to social inferiors; and (3) only in a few set formulas such as ladies and gentlemen.
Why would woman be offensive?
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.